The Long Road Home Redux
by mynameislizzie2
Summary: A reposted story again (there wil be a few!) of what happens when the world goes to shit and all you have when the button has been pressed is your friends. A Naomily love story with a bang!
1. Chapter 1

**My longest ever story, which suits this repost as its called the Long Road Home. A few people mourned its removal, so here goes. It will take a while to get it all up as I have to edit and refresh some of the text. Plus I stupidly named some of the chapters as I went along without numbering them, which has made it a bitch to remember the exact order! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it second time around?**

Emily

I've been searching for Katie for over an hour now, and I'm starting to get royally pissed off. It was her fucking idea to make me drive all the way to Cornwall on a hot Bank Holiday weekend so that we could spend some 'quality' time together. I should have known better. Quality time for Katie consists of conning her slightly younger twin sister into spending over £100 on petrol and sitting on the M25 circular car park for 3 fucking hours before even getting a sniff at countryside. Then after the hell that is the M4 and M5, followed by what seemed like a thousand miles of A roads till we got here, finally, Mousehole. Which for anyone with Google Maps is a tiny place near Penzance. No, I hadn't heard of it before either. OK, it's pretty and quaint and its about as far from our world as I have even been , but really, _Cornwall_?

We checked in at the booked holiday cottage at about 6 last night, after a whole day travelling, and as soon as we unpacked, I hit the sack. Driving isn't something her Ladyship has ever bothered to learn, so I had the dubious honour of doing the whole damned trip on my own. Katie spent most of the journey on her mobile phone, plugged into her ipod or sleeping. Great. There is only so much inspiration you can get from the limited selection of music on my memory stick, and as we got further from civilisation, the radio stations got worse. So I crashed as soon as we arrived, and this morning, when I woke to the sounds of hammering rain, my happiness was complete. 300 miles away from home, and more importantly, that sexy little blonde barmaid in the club I was supposed to be going to tonight. Instead of which, I am waking up in a tiny cottage perched on the hill over this village, without a clue where anything is, and my fucking sister, who is the one who came up with the idea for a weekend break, is nowhere to be seen. Call me cynical, but I bet there is a stiff cock in the vicinity. Katie is like a mesmerised cobra when one is waggled near her. Forget the flute, she prefers the pink trombone any day. You know, the gift that keeps on giving?...

Which is why I'm still puzzled at myself for agreeing to this sudden onset of sisterly affection. We haven't even been that close these past two years. Since we left college, and decided not to go the uni route, we've lived pretty much separate lives. Her in Southwark, working for a fashion chain as a junior buyer, me still following my dream as a budding photographer in North London. For photographer, read skivvy, memory stick holder and tea maker mostly, but I _am_ working on my portfolio, and if the boss ever has a conversation with my face rather than my (not very impressive) tits, I'm sure he will notice that I'm getting pretty good at spotting useful, sellable images. The only good thing about this trip is that I've bought my trusty Nikon D800 and a couple of lenses with me. I can get some great shots if it will just stop raining for a few hours.

In any case, _she_ is nowhere to be seen, and as I can't hear any fake orgasmic sounds coming out of her room, it seems safe to assume she has had to go further afield to find some willing prey. It's past 10.30 am, and even Katie usually has breakfast before her mouth needs extra stimulation. I know, its crude and hurtful to talk about your sister like that, but 20 years of personal exposure to Katie's err, adventurous nature, has left me pretty cynical. I spent enough of my teenage years avoiding the horrifying sight of my twin sister underneath one spotty youth or another to know that it might be crude, but its accurate. Once I came out as gay when I was 16, she seems to have taken that as a personal message to make up for my total lack of interest in cock, and hoover up all the spare she can. Yuk. Too much information, yeah, OK, I get that.

But after an hour of scouring the wet streets for any sign of Katie, horizontal or not, I gave up and went back to the cottage for my own breakfast. Two slices of thick toast, a couple of eggs and two mugs of coffee, and I'm feeling marginally better. Still no sign of my sister, but the rain has now eased up and I drag my battered Billingham bag from under my bed and check that I have a full battery in the camera and two spares. I attach the 10-100mm AF Nikkor and make sure the 80-200 is in the bag too. I'm going to go out onto the hill to see if this place is as attractive as the brochures promised. Fuck Katie.

A half hour of brisk walking and I'm on the top of the highest point over the sea. The sun is trying to break through the dark low clouds,and I can spot at least a couple of angles which will give me some moody seascapes to start with. I start to fire off a few test shots, checking the white balance and experimenting with exposures. They look pretty good, and I swing round to get a better look at the inland views.

"I may be wrong, but I'm pretty much sure that there's a law against photo perving" a voice breaks the silence and I jump so much I nearly drop my camera onto the rocky path.

"Jesus, bollocks, shit!" I shout "Who the fuck?"

I barely manage to hold on to the heavy camera and look around for the source of the sound. Sitting on a wall, a few yards away is a blonde woman, well, a girl, well she's about my age, so whatever. She's dressed in something green and a bit grungy, to be honest, but I quickly put the questionable fashion sense out of my mind, because when I get a proper look at her, I notice her eyes. Well I say notice, it was more of a rabbit/snake scenario really. They were blue, but not just blue. Icy blue, with that dark outer ring which set them off perfectly. Jesus, they were _eyes_... Set in a face which literally stopped my motor functions. I've never been much good at hiding my feelings, and I think, judging by the amused smile that played on her lips as I stood there openly checking her out, she was well aware of what was going through my mind. She had a face that would literally stop traffic. Pale skinned but healthy, beautiful...I thought, then my eyes carried on down her body...and stopped, embarrassed as fuck. " _Oh, I would_ _ **definitely**_ _tap that_ " came into my mind treacherously. Shut up, shut _UP_ , I told myself.

Finally getting my brain out of my underwear, I mumbled some sort of response.

"Sorry" I said "Not deliberate ...really. Just trying... to get some shots... of the general area. Didn't see you there... accident?"

I stopped then, no point in confirming that I was a stuttering fool, was there?

"No problem...err...?" she said, and my paralysed mind registered with shock that she wasn't offended at my obvious perving, and actually sounded like she wanted to know who I was.

"Emily...Emily Fitch" I said and stepped towards her, stumbling only slightly on the rugged path. Great, I thought, now she thinks I'm physically infirm as well as mentally.

She held out her hand to grip my own outstretched palm and I shivered slightly at the sensation of her cool skin on mine. I could get used to touching her skin, I thought and then suppressed it instantly. That way, small puddles lay...

She smiled and my mind registered shock that she wasn't excusing herself and getting away from the incoherent and stumbling loon she had just met.

"Naomi" she said quietly "I'd tell you my surname, but then I'd have to kill you"

I grinned at her

"That would be a pity" I said, thinking quickly that I wasn't going to let _that_ one lie, but for now... "You'll just have to let me buy you a drink so I can risk death finding out"

Jesus, did I just hit on her? I fucking did. Emily Fitch, you ARE turning into your sister. Even Katie gets their full names before mentally fucking them...Shame on you!

She must have understood my internal monologue from the way I was standing there dumbly looking at her, because she threw her head back and laughed out loud. I nearly ruined my underwear. Fuck she was hot when she laughed. I grinned back, thinking that I had better remember to thank Katie for this whole trip idea after all.

"Do you often meet strange women on hilltops and ask them out?" she drawled, and I blushed.

"Only on wet Saturdays" I said seriously "And then only if they're wearing green jumpers and wellies"

She laughed again, and I swore if she did that again, I wouldn't be responsible for my actions.

"So?" I said, hoping to God she wasn't fucking with me. (Go on Emily...as opposed to _actually_ fucking me?)

"OK" she smirked "How could I refuse after such a smooth pick up line?" She giggled prettily and I dived a bit deeper into my sudden fascination with this total stranger. This was _way_ too good to be true. I mean, she was obviously gay, or bi at the very least. I thanked Katie and whatever God was watching over me. Forget cute London barmaids, this one was _definitely_ a keeper...Emily Fitch, for once the heavens have smiled on you, I thought giddily.

"I'm in the cottage next to the farm over there" she pointed "Come round at about 7.30, we can go to the Kings Arms. I'll let you buy me that drink and maybe you'll get your chance at finding out my second name...if you're very very good"

I smirked myself. I had no intention of being good with her, in fact I wanted to be a very very bad girl indeed.

"That I can't promise" I flirted outrageously, hoping I wasn't overdoing it, as per usual "I have... ways.."

"I'll _bet_ you do Emily Fitch" she purred "Let's just say I'm a sucker for gentle persuasion"

My fucking heart thumped in my chest so hard I thought she would be able to see it through my shirt. She was flirting back. Suddenly the 300 mile journey didn't seem so bad after all.

"7.30?" I said "What's the name of your cottage?"

"The Creel" she said "It's an old fisherman's hut. My friend and I have it for the week"

I didn't like the word friend. I would have preferred sister or even better maiden aunt. Friend had too many possibilities I didn't like the thought of... She must have read me again, which I hoped wasn't too regular a trick, some things are better not known, yeah?

"Her names Effy, and she's my best friend. She's been a bit ill lately, so we came down here for a break. And why the fuck am I explaining my relationship with Effy to you?" she frowned.

"Sorry" I tried "Just don't want to tread on any toes"

She laughed again "That's really funny" she said "It's just that Effy is more of a man's girl, if you know what I mean. She would be horrified if you considered her...err, _competition_ "

It was my turn to tease.

"Competition, Naomi" I smiled "I'll have you know I don't like to lose"

Again the narrowing of the eyes, but this time more in amusement.

"I just bet you don't _Emily_ " she said, emphasising my name. "Especially when the prize is _this_ hot" She looked down at her body and I shuddered, which made her laugh again. Oh God, this is going to be a very bumpy ride, I thought. Please don't let me fuck this up.

We separated then, with brief goodbyes and I made my way back to the cottage. Still no sign of Katie, but to be honest, I didn't give a flying fuck. I had pulled and life suddenly didn't seem quite so shit.

Two hours later, Katie turned up looking flushed and happy. Jesus, does she ever give up, I thought?

"Fucking hell Katie" I yelled "Is it not possible for you to visit somewhere in the UK without being nailed by the resident stud?"

She smiled infuriatingly at that and dragged her hands through her tangled hair.

"His name is Kurt, and he's fucking gorgeous, not to mention he's totally hung and..."

STOP!" I screamed "Don't even go there. Jesus, we've only been here a few hours and already one of the locals has nailed you "

"No need to be crude" she said archly,and I wondered, all over again how she managed to get offended by me pointing out the obvious.

"Anyway" she continued as if I hadn't said a word "We're meeting him and his mates in the Ship tonight for a drink. I know you're still sipping from the furry cup babes, but make an effort for me will you. There isn't much chance of you finding any muff to munch in this little place is there?"

"Actually" I said, raising my eyebrow "I have a date tonight, with a totally hot blonde who has a body to die for"

"Fuck off Ems" Katie sneered "The lezzer count in the whole of Cornwall must be in single figures. You've got more chance of making it with a willing sheep"

"I said I have a date Katie, and I _have_ , You'll have to entertain Kurt and his mates tonight all on your own, babes, I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, would it. The words Bristol Rovers reserves and Holiday Inn ring any bells?"

She turned and strode into the bathroom without answering, Reference to that little episode was guaranteed to end any Katie Fitch one-upmanship in a second. I didn't use it very often, but it never lost its power. Too much champagne and MDMA lowered Katies inhibitions even more than they already were. Which was saying something. Lets just say several of the players scored that night.

The rest of the day seemed to take forever to pass, and I must have changed outfits six times before I settled on a blue silk top, which I left open 4 buttons from the top, with a tight white tee underneath. I put on a pair of black jeggings, which were so tight I had to breath in to get them buttoned at the waist. A pair of black ankle boots finished it off. I brushed a dab of Issy Myake onto my neck below my ear, hoping against hope that a pair of soft lips would discover it later, and teased my hair out for the 50th time in front of the mirror. Emily Fitch, I told myself, you look hot. She's gonna melt into her wellies when she sees you. A couple of glasses of chilled white wine gave me the confidence I needed to get out of the door. Katie had left me to it, and responded to my shouted goodbye with a grunt. She was still pissed off with me, but my mood wasn't about to be broken by one of her sulks.

Ten minutes later I arrived at the door of the small stone cottage Naomi had pointed out to me from the top of the hill. To be honest it was pretty much an identikit version of ours. 19th Century, converted to 21st century plumbing. Another house taken out of the local housing market, I thought grimly, before shaking my overly PC thoughts out of my head and knocking firmly on the ledge and braced door.

Five seconds later the door opened and a slim brunette with huge blue eyes stared out at me. She looked very thin and pale, and I guessed correctly that this was the mysterious Effy. She looked at me longer than was comfortable, before saying "Oh" quietly

"Hi" I said cheerfully "I'm Emily...here to see Naomi?"

She blinked at me and then shouted over her shoulder "Naoms, your date's here"

Date? I thought. Yep, that's me. Emily Fitch, ready and willing. In fact more than willing, positively gagging for it...Stop it Emily, I scolded myself. Just a drink, that's all.

Naomi came to the door, as Effy obviously wasn't about to invite me in.

"Hi you" she said, smiling broadly "Looking good Emily Fitch"

I grinned back. Even in the growing dusk, she looked fucking good to me too. A tight black top with sequins on the sleeves and neck, black leggings which were even tighter than my own and flats. Her hair was arranged round her neck in soft waves and her eyes made up with smoky black. In short she was screaming at me _fuckable_. Is that wrong? No I didn't think so either...

XX

The _it_ happened, and everything I was sure about and relied upon in the whole world changed. As Naomi turned to give Effy a friendly goodbye kiss on the cheek, there was a flash in the eastern sky above the cottage. Luckily we were in the lee of the building, so for us there was just the strange sensation of being in a stark negative image. White light spread around us until even our clothes glowed brightly. I stumbled towards Naomi and she automatically pulled me towards her. Effy fell backwards into the doorway, and I found myself on the floor in a tangle of limbs and long hair. The three of us clung to each other in absolute terror. The light stayed bright and harsh and as we struggled to free ourselves, it flickered like Morse code, on and off rapidly as if someone was turning a torch with unimaginable power of and on ten times a second. The the sound hit us. It sounded like the biggest thunderstorm ever heard. The rumble was deep, like a huge beast groaning. It sounded like the earth itself was dying in agony. On and on it went, and all the time, the flashes carried on illuminating everything in unearthly light. I don't know how long it went on, half an hour, and hour? All I knew was that every time it seemed to be quieting, another burst would start. None of us were brave enough to venture outside to see, but whatever this celestial firework display was, it was frightening us all rigid.

Finally it subsided, with a low roar. The only sound then was the rustling of thousands of wings as every bird in Cornwall rose up and fled west in their flocks. Birds don't fly at night, do they? Well these did, darkening the late evening skies. The night was cloudless, just the beginning of a full moon shining down, but the birds kept coming, by the thousand, no by the million, surely.

After ten minutes of paralysed fear, it was Naomi who spoke.

"I have no idea what that was, but whatever it was it's bad. Effy, fill the bathtub"

Effy looked at her as if stunned "I don't want a bath" she said flatly

"Don't fucking argue, Eff" Naomi barked "Just do it"

Effy stood for another couple of seconds before turning to go along the ground floor bathroom. I could hear the taps turn and the sound of gushing water.

Naomi stepped closer to me and held me in her arms. I didn't realise till then that I was shivering.

"It's OK" she said "Something really, really bad has happened back east. But we have to get ready for whatever this means Emily"

I looked up at her as she looked towards the glow in the eastern sky which had settled to a broad flickering yellow and orange band.

"I think the fucking lunatic politicians have finally done it" she sighed,and looked down at me "And it would be just when I found _you_ " she ended sadly.

I let her hold me as the water continued to fill the bath and Effy sobbed quietly in the background.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily

Well, this was turning into a surreal evening. An hour ago, all I was worried about was making sure I had my best black lace underwear on, in case Naomi wanted to get 'friendly' after our drinks date. But now I'm standing in this small cottage, listening to the sound of the bath tub filling to the brim and Effy quietly crying into a towel, and just wondering what the hell just happened.

Naomi was suddenly all business, and that scared me strangely more than the Son and Lumière show we had just witnessed. What happened to my sarcastic, laid back new friend? This new one was all barked commands and frantic running up and down stairs, carrying clothing and bags. In between, she told Effy to fill as many plastic bottles with cold water from the bath tub as there were in the cottage.

I stopped her as she came down with yet another armful of clothes and blankets, and gripped her forearms to make her listen to me.

"Hey" I said, holding her eyes with mine "You're freaking me out a bit, Naomi. **What** just happened, and why are you suddenly behaving like it's the apocalypse or something?"

She fixed me with a serious look and spoke quickly.

"Because it may well _be_ the apocalypse Emily" she said "That wasn't the fucking Chinese New Year you just watched. Something massive and terrifying just happened somewhere in the east, and whatever it was, it was big enough to be seen and felt hundreds of miles away. It wasn't just a load of big bangs. Lots of massive explosions have gone off somewhere and those yellow and red lights you can still see in the distance is one whole side of this country burning"

I held my hand to my mouth and just stared at her dumbly.

She saw my shock and dropped the pile of clothes onto the sofa, before turning back and gripping my hands in hers.

"Look" she said seriously "I don't know _what_ has happened exactly. But we're fucking lucky we are about as far away as you can get in a small island from whatever it is. At least we have a little time to prepare for whatever is coming our way. Things are going to get very scary, very fast. When other people realise what has just gone on, they are going to get real scared too. And scared people are dangerous and greedy and selfish. We can take the easy option and sit here waiting to find out, or we can take control of our lives, and get the fuck out of Dodge, until we can work out what went on back there"

She shook me slightly with her hands as I carried on staring at her.

"Emily. I really _need_ you to help me out here. Effy is scared too, and she's not at all well, she needs looking after. Can I rely on you to help me. To help _us_?

I nodded. It still seemed weirdly like a film or a play to me. I mean. Natural disasters and stuff happened on the Discovery channel, yeah? Not to us on our safe and stable little island.

"What do you want me to do?" I said finally, getting a grip on my emotions. She was right, we needed to work together. Together... Oh fuck... " _Katie_!" I said frantically.

She looked at me quizzically, and I realised I had never mentioned my twin to her.

"My _sister_! I need to get to her, she's all alone out there"

Naomi nodded silently and carried on holding my hands as I tried to get away.

"Listen to me Ems" she said firmly. "That's no problem. We'll go find your sister together, but right now, while we still have time, I need you to help me load my car ready for us to leave in a hurry, OK?"

I didn't want to listen to her, but the rational side of my brain nagged at me to be calm, just as the other side screamed at me to get the fuck out of there and find Katie.

I stopped struggling and let her give me a quick hug. She was right. Nothing would be solved by me rushing off into the night in my best pulling outfit. Something about the way Naomi took control of the situation was comforting. I didn't know what the hell she did for a living, but she obviously had crisis management training and I trusted her. I nodded at her, this time a little more positively.

"Great" she said and favoured me with one of her million watt smiles. "We'll get the car loaded up and go get your sister, OK?"

I grabbed the bundle of things she had dropped on the couch and opened the door. Her car was outside. I say car, it was more of a truck. As she followed me to it, I turned my head and raised one eyebrow.

"Bit butch, babes" I grinned "Never pegged you as the Ray Mears type?"

She shrugged, but her eyes were wide and amused.

"The things you don't know about me Emily Fitch are so numerous, you may need a map to discover them all" she grinned back cheekily.

"For your information, its a Land Rover Defender long wheelbase truck cab. It may look a bit agricultural, but in this sort of situation, I would trust ' _Lizzie_ ' to get us out of trouble more than any other vehicle made"

" _Lizzie_?" I said, throwing the tied up bundle in the pick up section at the back "She has a name then?"

"All Land Rover's have names Emily" she laughed "And Lizzie is reliable, hard working..." she stepped closer and stage whispered in my ear, making me shiver involuntarily "...and although she can sometimes be a hard ride, ultimately she _always_ gives satisfaction"

Her throaty laugh made me shudder. What _is_ it with her and the innuendos?

"Lizzie and I have something in common then" I smiled at her in what I hoped was a little promise of better things to come.

" _ **That**_ , I have yet to find out Emily Fitch. Hopefully, the time _will_ come..." she snorted "But first..." she nodded in the direction of the cottage door, where Effy stood wringing her hands and silently weeping "Can you help Effy get her things? She's not very organised at the moment"

We finished packing as much gear as they had into the truck and finally Naomi jumped in the cab and waited for Effy and I to get in. When we were strapped in, she asked me for directions to mine and Katie's cottage and when we got there, inside a few moments, I went in with her and gathered as much of my sisters and my stuff as would fit in. I noticed there were a few small anonymous khaki boxes in the corner of the open pick up section of the green truck, which made the last few items a bit of a squeeze, but we managed it at last. Jumping back into the cab, we drove the half mile to the pub where I knew Katie had planned on spending the evening. Pulling up outside, it was strange to see everything looking absolutely normal. The lights were on, and all the windows were closed, despite the warm weather, The sounds of some ear-splitting Kaskade and Quadron techno was making the walls shake. I could see shadows and shapes of people going mental and sighed. Typical Katie. The world looked about to end, but as long as she could grind against a stiff cock, she was in paradise. I guessed that I would have trouble getting her out of there, and I was right. Whilst Naomi stayed outside, watching the skyline with a troubled frown, I ran inside and hunted through the sweaty and writhing crowd for her. After 5 minutes fruitless searching, I realised there was only one place left to look. Of course...

Pushing my way to the front of a resentful and muttering queue of over made up and over perfumed local girls, I eventually got to the grubby toilets. I heard a few moans and bitchy remarks, but ignored them.

"Sorry" I said about a hundred times "Just looking for my sister, coming through"

One particular local shag dragon, with black caked eyes and a cleavage which would take crampons to escape from, shouted woozily at me as I squeezed past.

"If she looks like you, _she's_ the reason there's a fucking queue" she grated "Tell her to take Kurts cock out of her mouth long enough to use the poxy door handle huh?"

I would have argued, but to be honest, it was probably a pretty accurate guess. I steeled my self for an entirely unwanted mental image to come. I got to the 6 cubicle block and hammered on each door, calling her name.

At the last door, I could hear, even over the ground trembling bass, the unmistakeable sound of a male in ecstasy. "Grab my balls!" has never been my favourite phrase, and it still isn't. Humping in the bogs, classy Fitch...

" _ **KATIE**_!" I yelled, over the thumping music. "Get your arse out of there **NOW** , there's a fucking _emergency_!"

Some wag behind me laughed " Yeah, the slot machine on the wall is about to run out of condoms, bitch" I heard sarcastic laughter.

Finally, after several seconds of obvious clothing adjustment and muttered complaints, my sister emerged, smoothing down her skirt and buttoning up her top. Way to go Katie, I thought, subtlety to the end... Behind her a gel haired guy in his late twenties casually finished zipping himself up and swaggered out to the muted cheers of the impatient queue.

"What the **FUCK** is up Emily?" Katie yelled, totally unfazed by the rising tide of resentment from the local pussy posse. "I was, like, _busy_ , yeah?"

"Outside... _now_!" I said and without waiting far an answer, spun round and pushed my way back through the queue, until I was back in the car park. Naomi was still sitting in the truck cab, smoking a cigarette and talking quietly to Effy.

"What the fuck is all _this_ Emily" Katie yelled even louder than before. "I'm not going anywhere in this laundry truck with you. Do you think I've turned bull dyke overnight?"

I grabbed her and physically turned her head until she was looking across the bay towards the east. She wriggled a bit, but just then a flare of bright yellow shot up into the sky, maybe a few thousand feet, who knows, and she froze. It looked closer to me, and I knew instinctively that time was running out. I could almost hear the cogs grinding as she processed what she was seeing.

She turned her head and looked at me, mouth open.

"W...what?" she said.

"I may be wrong Katie" I said quietly, but I think that's London and the whole South East you can see going up in flames, hun"

"B...but, it can't be... I mean..." she stopped talking and then choked on her next words "But mum and dad, and James..."

"I know" I said, and this time it was my voice that broke.

"I think we need to get going kids" Naomi's voice sounded strange and tight. I looked at her and saw she was scanning the narrow streets around us anxiously. Her fingers were drumming on the gently vibrating steering wheel.

"The locals have started to notice that things aren't quite right" She nodded westwards, and I could see a group of middle aged people standing in the road, arguing and waving their arms. Voices were being raised and I could see that panic wasn't far away. "Give them ten minutes and someone is going to it all work out. Time to go, kiddies"

Katie didn't struggle at all as I pushed her into the only spare seat in the back and then jumped in beside Naomi. My 'date' dropped the clutch immediately and all four wheels spun as she gunned the engine hard, scattering small stones all over the car park. Within seconds we were speeding up the narrow road and out of the village. I turned to look at her face as we weaved around a couple of cars, carelessly parked as the owners stood staring into the flickering distance. Her lips were fixed in a tight line and she stared hard at the road ahead, illuminated harshly by the array of spot lights on the front of the heavy truck.

"Naomi?" I said, trying to make myself heard over the roar of the big diesel

" _Naom_ _i_?"

"Yeah?" she said, not turning her head.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere I hope is safe Emily" she said flatly "And we're going to see if a friend of mine is OK. If he is. Life will get a lot easier for all of us"

"What friend, and where? I said, wondering why it even mattered.

"James Cook" she said, a small smile playing on her mouth "They say only cockroaches and rats can survive a nuclear war. Well, you can add James Cook to that list Emily. If he _is_ alive, our chances will suddenly get a lot better"

She flashed a quick grin to me before turning back to the unlit road.

"Grab my mobile from my pocket?" she indicated her jacket pocket, and I fished out the surprisingly chunky phone. Who the fuck has a khaki green phone?

"Look up _JC6_ in the contacts" she told me, and I did quickly.

"Text this" she said simply " _Cookie, its Naomi. We're on our way. Shit 1 Fan 0. Sitrep?_ "

I thumbed the words, bracing myself against the door as the truck bounced around on the uneven road. Seconds later the phone buzzed in my hand and I pressed the open message button

" _Not good babe. London's gone. Nada left of the East or Central. Not over yet either. Come to Point Clear 88. On yr own?"_

I recited the words to her quickly as she drove. The road was getting windier. And I could see intermittently from my window the lights of Mousehole in the distance.

"Text this" she said again _"N plus 3_ _female_ _. Supplies on board. Be there in 2+. Long and shorts req plus A. Out"_

I had no idea what that all meant, but she obviously did. Curiouser and curiouser.

This time there was no reply. She didn't speak again as the truck roared its way over the hills and away from the coast. I got one last look at our holiday village. Then there was a moment when I thought we had gone behind a hill, because suddenly the lights, including the street ones, all went out at once. But I could see the moon on the water behind the village still illuminating everything.

I flashed a look at Naomi , but I could see she'd already noticed in the mirror. Her face was grim.

"It's started Ems" she said quietly. "OK in the back?"

I heard Effy snuffle back a sob and looked over my shoulder to see her resting her head on Katie's shoulder. I glanced at my sister, expecting her to be outraged by this strangers distress, but she just looked at me with a scared face and held onto the other girls hand in her lap. I remember thinking I must look like that too, frightened and bewildered.

"We'll be OK Naomi, won't we?" I said weakly.

"That I can't promise Emily" Naomi murmured "But if I can get to Cook. We just might be" She flashed me another smile, but this one looked forced "We'll be travelling for the next two hours. Try to get some sleep if you can hun. We'll need to be on our game when we get there".

I lowered my head back onto the plastic headrest and closed my eyes. Some fucking date, I thought. What's wrong with Pinot Grigio and a slow dance?.

XXX


	3. Chapter 3

Emily

The skidding of knobbly tyres on gravel woke me from my fitful doze. My neck hurt like a bitch from leaning back on the hard head rest, but I ignored it when the multiple spotlights on the front of the truck lit up the clearing we were stopped in. I could see tall conifers all around the flat grassed area. They looked a bit spooky in the harsh xenon glare, standing there like grim sentinels. Naomi killed the lights and suddenly everything was dark again. Just the ticking of the big diesel as it cooled and the sound of four people breathing. I could just see the outline of a small building about 20 yards away. It was silent and dark too.

"Stay there" she said, and, opening the door, dropped down to the gravel and walked quickly towards the building. She was gone no more than twenty seconds, but it seemed longer. None of us spoke. Effy was still sleeping, judging by the regular sounds of her breathing, but even my gobby sister Katie recognised the need to keep quiet until we knew what the score was.

Then I saw Naomi's silhouette break the gloom as she walked back, I sighed in relief. When she pulled open the drivers door, I saw by the courtesy light that she had a tight satisfied grin on her face.

"Ladies" she said brightly "Welcome to the Wesleyan home for waifs and strays"

We jumped out of the truck, stiff and tired from the road trip, but anxious for answers.

"Naomi?" I said "Where exactly _is_ this place?"

She was taking a foot square green box from underneath the seat below her.

"This probably isn't the best time for 20 questions Emily" she said levelly "But you guys do deserve a bit of an explanation. Just lets get inside though, OK?"

I nodded and followed her towards the single storey building. Katie and Effy, still joined at the hip apparently, walked on behind us. We stepped up onto a decking verandah, and approached the plain grey panelled door. What had looked like wood turned out to be metal.

Naomi slid a long slim key into what seemed to be a high security lock and punched a complicated set of numbers into a black keypad which flipped open next to the door frame. After a second, the main door gave a sigh and slid open sideways without being pushed. I was puzzled. This place looked like a holiday cottage, similar to ours. But now we were close up, I could see that the twee little shuttered windows and stripped wooden verandah, with its two evenly placed garden chairs and artificial pot plants, looked a little _too_ perfect. From a respectable distance, you could go along with the charade. But this close, it started to look more like a film set.

Naomi walked in without hesitating and we followed. Once we were inside, she set down the obviously heavy green box and closed the door with another anonymous push switch. As the outer door slid closed with a metallic clunk, she reached over to her side and clicked on another grey switch. Immediately the room was flooded with harsh white light. As we blinked at the sudden glare, I could see that the illusion of domesticity definitely didn't stretch to the interior. Instead of a cosy cottage lounge, we were standing in a square, spartan room with institutional white walls and black rubberised flooring. Far from being a holiday let, this was obviously purely functional. The one and only flat surface consisted of a bare wooden worktop, about 3 feet high, with two items on it. One was a grey phone, with a single black button on top. The other was a well used green A4 book, with a pen attached by string. It looked like the sort of books glass and steel, multi floored London offices have in reception. A visitors book. The rest of the room consisted of three bare walls with a blue coloured steel riveted door on the opposite side. Nothing else. No windows on the inside at all. Obviously the outer ones were fake too.

"Well?" I said "Any chance of an explanation?"

Katie came and stood beside me, for once abandoning her little lost chick and we regarded Naomi suspiciously. She knew a hell of a lot more than she had let on so far, and this wasn't your average tourist bolt hole in an emergency. We needed answers. Naomi opened her mouth to speak, but just at that moment, Effy took the opportunity to say the first words I had heard her say since I turned up for a date with her friend, about a hundred years ago.

"You know when someone wins the lottery, they always say that fate must have been smiling down on them?" she said cryptically. We both spun round and looked at her, open mouthed. What?

"Well" she smirked "I think we happy three have just won the Lottery. No strike that, the fucking _Euro_ Lottery on a triple roll over. Naomi here is a bona fide government _spook_ , aren't, you babes?. We couldn't be in safer hands"

I turned back to Naomi, to see her smiling, but not in a humorous way, at her friend.

"Not the description I would have chosen Eff. But I suppose it will do given the circumstances" she said in a brittle voice.

She took a deep breath and continued.

"OK. Actually, I'm _not_ a spook. That description is reserved for MI5 or MI6 operatives. I work for the good old British Army, for my sins. If you want a better nickname to hang on to me, try the Green Slime. It's what those well known stand up raconteurs in the Regiment refer to us as. Cookie will no doubt fill you in on the contempt 'real soldiers' have for the Intelligence Corps when he gets here. We're based in Bedford normally, but I happened to be on a 10 day pass, looking after Effy here, who has had, shall we say, a passing acquaintance with our old friend heroin for the past two years, and seems to have had a bit of a reconciliation lately"

Again she smiled at Effy, but the smile definitely didn't reach her eyes. I heard Effy stifle a gasp as her 'secret' was revealed, and I realised in that moment, that Naomi was far from sweetness and light when she was pushed. I filed that away under ' _things I need to remember if and when I ever piss her off_ '

"So. Thats my background. Lets have a little update on what we know, shall we? Cookie will hopefully be here by morning, and it will be all business then, believe me. First, we know that something big, and definitely life changing has happened to the rest of the country. I don't know exactly what, and I guess we may never know, but I think its safe to say that none of us will be going home soon. Perhaps ever"

She paused for effect and it worked. No one spoke, even Effy.

"I know its hard to take in, but we have to deal in certainties now. Its all we have left to rely on. Better to tell yourself that your old life is gone. Friends, family, lovers. Personally, I haven't got much to worry over. My mum is in the West of Ireland, so she may be OK for the time being. I have no other relationships to speak of. My job pretty much sees to that. But I know you guys have families, friends and maybe more...Feel free to grieve for them"

I blinked guiltily at that. For some stupid reason, the face of the pretty blonde barmaid, Anna, came into my mind. Poor cow, she would be ashes like everyone else now. I couldn't bring myself to even think about my mum and dad, let alone James at the moment. I _would_ grieve for them, but when I had some time on my own. I realised that when I did let go, I would need somewhere more private to shed the tears which would fall. I took a breath and spoke more confidently than I felt.

"So, even if all that's true. We don't know what else is going to happen, do we? Is it a war, an asteroid strike, fucking alien invasion? What the hell could cause all that devastation Naomi?"

"I wish I had answers Emily" Naomi said "But I don't. What I _can_ tell you is that we are in a relatively safe place right now. This place is old, but perfectly functional. And it has the advantage of being completely off the official radar. Records for most of these places have been well and truly compromised over the years. Kelvedon Hatch and the others near the capital are fucked as bolt holes. They're fucking _tourist_ sites now" she sneered, clearly unimpressed with whoever decided on that little vote winner.

"But this place is still super classified. If it is a general nuclear attack on the UK, it shouldn't be on the 'bang bang, you're dead' list for the Russians or Chinese. If I'm wrong and it _is_...well, we won't know much about it anyhow. One brilliant flash of light and 10 megatons of plutonium later and we all go back to being stardust and golden, just like that old song from the 70's"

I can't say I was much comforted by that little vignette, but I shrugged in a sign of indifference and interrupted her monologue.

"So what exactly _is_ this place then Naomi?" I asked

"Ladies, let me give you the grand tour" she said brightly and walked over to the only other door in the room. Another complicated code was punched in, and this door too slid sideways slickly. It was way thicker than the front door, and clunked into place solidly as it opened wide. Behind it, ceiling lights started to go on in sequence with an audible clunk, on and on. The corridor behind it started to fall away steeply. It looked about thirty yards long. As the lights came on one by one, I could see bunk beds with rolled bedding lined up against one wall. The corridor was about ten feet high at its peak, and at the end, there was a sharp right hand turn. We followed Naomi down the corridor. It looked military, all subdued green and cream and smelt a little musty, as if no one had been here for months. When we got to the bottom and turned right we were faced with a large opening, maybe10 feet square, surrounded by a very heavy duty metal and rivet frame. From that frame hung the biggest, thickest fuck off steel plate door I had even seen outside a film about Swiss banks. It looked just like a vault door, maybe a foot and a half thick.

"May I present our very own new front door" Naomi said with a theatrical flourish, waving us past her.

"I'm not going in _there_ " a voice from behind me said and I turned to see Katie standing with folded arms. Aha, I thought, the Kraken awakes. I thought she had severed her own vocal chords, but no such luck.

"It's a fucking _tomb_. Why do we need to bury ourselves 30 metres underground, when there isn't anything happening in this area anyway?" Katie's bottom lip stuck out, a thing I had seen oh so many times before. I settled myself down for the long haul. But I didn't reckon on Naomi.

"Fine" she said sweetly "You stay outside and greet the rapists, looters and murderers when they inevitably arrive. When civilization breaks down completely, Katie, the first thing to go is any respect for law and order. People tend to get very basic, very quickly. Food, water and shelter are their first concerns. Then other...more, prosaic, things get priority" She closed the gap between them in one quick step "And although I think you already know I prefer your sister's body babes" she smiled brightly "I can still appreciate the appeal of those fine tits and pert little arse. I'm sure one of the sex deprived survivors will appreciate them even more...him and about twenty of his dirty, sweaty mates. You might last the night, strapped to one of those bunks like an oven ready chicken, if they're feeling kind, but I seriously doubt it. Once the gang rapes are over, you sort of lose your sex appeal. You start to look like lunch...They reckon human flesh tastes like pork, what do you reckon?"

My sisters eyes got wide, and she took an involuntary step back at the harshness of Naomi's words.

"OK, OK" she said quietly "I get the fucking picture Roger Ramjet. Lets go then?"

She pushed past me and followed Naomi into the chamber behind the door. Discussion over. Fuck me, don't pull your punches Naomi, I thought. Cannibal rapists?...I've stumbled onto the set of Night of the Living Dead.

I caught up with them as Naomi dumped the green box on one of the two single beds in the first room we came to about 15 yards further down. I could see a row of maybe 20 other similar rooms along the corridor. This place was obviously designed to house a whole bunch of people. Katie went on to the next room.

"Well. This is me" the blonde said, shucking off her grey jacket and laying it with the box on the bed. She stretched extravagantly and eyed me as I looked around the room, It was bare and utilitarian, like the rest of the place. Just the two hospital style single beds, a small cabinet beside each and a double pine wardrobe on the opposite wall.

"Not exactly the Ritz" I tried "I bet room service is fucking shit too"

She grinned and rubbed her neck as I stood there uncertainly. I could hear Katie complaining and Effy murmuring in the next room as they no doubt voiced the same thoughts about our accommodation as I had.

"Bit basic, Emily" she said, suddenly serious "But this is about as good as it gets, at least for now. You're welcome to bed down here with me. Katie and Effy seem to be OK for the time being.

"You don't mind?" I said, a bit too quickly "sharing with me?"

"It isn't quite what I had in mind for the end of our date Ems" she smiled at me "I was thinking more coffee in front of the TV, Ben & Jerry's and maybe a bit of heavy petting to finish with" Her eyes got dreamy "Fuck, I _love_ heavy petting"

I laughed out loud at that. That was pretty much my own daydream about tonight. Fat fucking chance of that happening now.

"Can I ask you something Naomi?" said, dropping the bundle I had in my hands on the other bed.

"Shoot" she said "If I can answer it, I will"

"What exactly made you go out with me tonight. I mean before the shit hit the fan and stuff?"

"I've asked myself that question a couple of times already" she said, looking away from me, and I hid my surprise by looking at my shoes for a second as she carried on.

"You are _very_ pretty, very upfront, which I actually like a lot, and...well, it's been a while since I did anything spontaneous. The Army tends to make you think in straight lines" she looked me up and down deliberately "And you are anything _but_ straight lines, Miss Fitch"

"So just a whim then, really" I said, and this time my tone gave away my disappointment at her tone.

"A very happy whim" she said stepping closer and cupping my chin in her hands. "There was just something about you I liked, and the more I see you, the more I _see_ you...if that make any fucking sense. I think we both got lucky, don't you?"

I smiled at her and reached up to grip her hands as they held my chin "No regrets then?" I said as a hefty crash next door signified my twins inevitable clumsiness. Katie could clear a room just reaching for the hair straighteners. I heard her curse colourfully and Effy laugh.

"None whatsoever" Naomi said, and her pretty eyes backed up her words. "Although I'm afraid we're gonna have to can the Mills & Boon romantic stuff for the time being. The situation out there is going to get worse before it gets better. That's if it ever _gets_ any better" Again her eyes slid from mine and stared into the distance "I really hope so Emily, for all our sakes"

I sat down onto the bed quietly for a moment after that. There really wasn't much I could add. She was right, things were fucked up beyond all recognition.

An hour later and we had brought in everything 'Lizzie' had to give. Clothes, bedding, linen and personal stuff. I'd even managed to save my beloved Nikon D800, but Naomi chuckled at me as I fussed over it, checking for damage and fresh batteries.

"Better get used to old technology Emily" she smiled as I put everything back in my canvas and leather Billingham bag. "I don't think digital will be much good for a generation or two. Save the images by all means, but finding a working computer might be a problem over the next few years. I know the satellite phone is still working for the moment, but civilian comms will pretty much be gone by morning, if not before. The country's infrastructure is screwed"

She unlocked and opened her green box and flipped the metal lid over. Inside was a cut foam insert with two items tucked inside. A wicked looking black automatic pistol, and a box of what I presumed was ammunition for it. She took the gun out and expertly checked it, cocking and releasing the barrel and dropping the clip from inside the handle. I could see a row of shiny brass bullets inside the thin black chamber and swallowed hard. I had never been this close to a gun before, and to be honest, I was a bit intimidated.

"Glock 19 semi automatic" Naomi said as I looked at the gun in her hand suspiciously "19 staggered 9mm rounds. Accurate, fast and a proper man stopper. Cookie is bringing a few more with him if we're lucky, plus some useful long arms. We're _all_ going to need to be able to at least point one of these at someone confidently Em" She paused...

"Its not heavy, but its solid" she passed it over to me and I sat there with it in my hand, looking at it as if it was a poisonous snake.

"I know I was a bit melodramatic out there with Katie, with all the mad cannibal rapist stuff Ems" she said gently "But in a life and death situation, knowing how to use one of these will be vital. OK?"

I nodded, but inside my head I was screaming. I didn't want any of this. How did life get so fucked up, so fast? I had trouble understanding the instructions for my little Rampant Rabbit... how was I going to manage a gun?

"Right" I managed, and she retrieved the gun from my shaking hands and put it into her cargo pants side pocket. I was glad to see it disappear.

"OK" she said, standing up again "All the important stuff is inside. I'm going to hide the Landie in the trees and make a quick sit rep call to Cook. I think we need to get bunked down for the night. There are two high level night cameras in the pines, with monitors in here, and the generator should be working fine, judging by the internal lights. I'm going to see what reserve diesel we have and then I'm gonna go check out a few things before shutting up. Will you three be OK while I do?"

I nodded again and began to sort out the bed, rolling down the mattress and plumping up the single pillow. The thin grey duvet was at least dry and fresh smelling, so I guessed I could get some sleep, even if the bed was hard. I was suddenly exhausted. She left quickly and after going into the other room to check on Katie and Effy, I stripped off my clothes and, pulling an old tee over my body, I crawled into the narrow bed and folded the pillow under my head, so that I could keep the door in sight as I dozed. I heard some strange sounds from the corridor, clanging and banging, but within 5 minutes, Naomi was coming back through the door, pulling off her clothes as she did. My tiredness didn't allow me too much perv time, but I remember thinking that she had excellent tits, before exhaustion overtook me and I blacked out. The last thing I remember was Naomi whispering goodnight.

XX

Morning came, although the only way I could tell that was the digital figures on my watch. 07.14, it said and I turned my head to see that Naomi was already up and about. Her bed was made and the door was slightly ajar. I could smell coffee, and that made my nose twitch. Such an ordinary smell, but it reminded me of lazy Sunday mornings at home. All gone now, along with my flat, my ginger tomcat Oscar and that stupid pot plant I had been given by Elise, my ex last summer. I stifled a sob as the memories of the life I had had before flooded into my half awake brain. Shaking my head, I forced myself to get up and get going. Passing Katie and Effy's room, I peeked in to see both were still asleep. Just two brunette heads almost hidden under the quilts. I followed the smell of the fresh coffee, and eventually found the source. The kitchen was at the end of this corridor. All brushed alloy and white walls. Naomi stood at the sink, drinking from a mug. Her back was to me, and I padded over to her silently. I saw her tense as I got within touching distance,and realised that she knew I was there. Fucking ninja...

"Morning" I said, and yawned for effect.

She turned and smiled brightly at me. She was wearing a creased white tee like mine, but because of her long legs, it rode up more and as she stretched up to the shelf above the sink to get me a mug, a wide creamy expanse of her side was revealed over her knickers. I felt my mouth go dry at the sight, and when she turned round, she caught me openly perving. I saw her mouth twist into a sly grin.

"My face is up here you know" she laughed.

"I like the view fine as it is" I said, grinning too. "Are you complaining?"

She closed the gap between us and suddenly my craving for coffee retreated. She put down her steaming mug next to my empty one.

"Cookie will be here shortly" she breathed "But in the meantime..."

I felt her hands go round my waist and she looked down at my lips, running her tongue over her own as she did. My stomach flipped and I looked back at her, waiting.

She brushed her lips against mine, light as a feather, and I groaned. I felt like someone had plugged me into the generator. I went up on my bare toes and kissed her back. It felt so right. Her arms tightened around me before one of her hands reached down and cupped my backside possessively. This time, when I groaned, it was deeper, more needy. The kiss deepened, and I felt her tongue probing between my lips. I opened my mouth to let her in. She pulled back after a few seconds and those intense blue eyes were almost glowing as she looked into mine.

"Jesus" she sighed "I sort of knew it would be good with you, but this..."

I silenced her by capturing her soft lips again. I could feel her full tits pressing into my smaller ones and the sensation of our hardening nipples brushing against each other was almost too intense to bear. I knew if she wanted to, she could have me now, up against this counter. Hard and fast. I would let her, nothing was more certain. My knickers felt too tight.

She pulled back again, and I saw something pass over her face. In a second the moment was gone.

"We...we can't Emily" she said, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from my eyes." I want to...so _fucking_ much...but not here, not like this. There will be a time...soon..."

I nodded, swallowing hard as I tried to suppress the urge to tear off my clothes and make her want me. I knew she was on the edge, like me...

"Make it soon Naomi" I said simply " I think you know how much _I_ want it"

Just then I got the distinct sensation we were being watched, and sure enough, Effy appeared at the doorway with that fucking smug grin on her face I was growing to dislike intensely.

"Not interrupting am I?" she smiled "I can go back to bed for a while if I am"

I glowered at her. She knew _exactly_ what she had interrupted.

"Not at all Effy" I said icily "Coffee?"

XX

Half hour later, after a surprisingly refreshing luke warm shower in the communal bathhouse, I rejoined the other three in the entrance lobby. The great door was shut behind us, and Naomi had made sure we were dressed suitably. Even Katie, with her mania for looking sharp, saw the need for practicality. We had on blue boot jeans and calf boots, sweat shirts and Naomi had dug out of the stores a set of army green waistcoats for each of us with several deep pockets. Katie of course referred to it as a gilet, but that was just Katie. We were also given a wicked looking short knife each, and we tucked them away without testing the blades. They looked sharp enough to shave your legs with...or other things.

We'd also been equipped with small compact walkie talkie radio handsets each. If we got out of sight of each other, one small press of the red panic button would bring the others running in case of problems.

The air was crisp and fresh this early in the morning, and it would have been easy to forget that the world had just imploded, looking around the clearing. Naomi had hidden the Landie under some brushwood, and we helped her clear it away. The green of the truck was perfect camouflage in this woodland setting. Just then Naomi's sat phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out and turned away to speak. I could hear her say "What the fuck Cook?" and "Who?" But the rest was lost as Katie decided to whine about how tight her boots were at that moment.

Finishing her call, Naomi turned back and frowned at us.

"Cook's about twenty minutes away. Had some trouble with a few locals in his area. I think there were casualties. And he's got a passenger. Fucking twat" she spat.

We busied ourselves scouring the area in two's looking for signs of other people. I was a bit peeved that Naomi chose to go off with Effy, but my grumble was short-lived. We walked as quickly as we could through the dense undergrowth, skirting the bigger trees and bushes. Within a hundred metres, the woodland ended, and I could see farmland and deserted houses in the distance. No sign of life. On the horizon, to the east and north black smoke edged the whole vista like an indelible ink mark. There were still orange flashes underneath, so I guess things were still burning, but I didn't want to spend too much time looking. It was too fucking depressing. Katie and I looked at each other silently and turned away from what was our previous life.

I heard a small whistle, like a blackbird, but when the brawny hand clamped over my mouth, I had no chance to scream, let alone use the knife Naomi had given us. I thought that it was kind of unfair. Now I was going to die, or be gang raped and then die. Fuck. I looked towards Katie and saw she was also being held from behind, a hand clamped over her mouth too.

A hoarse voice echoed in my ear, breath hot and eager. Like a predator.

"Nice and quiet, kid" he said "No need for any fuss"

I steeled myself for the tearing of my clothes and the brutal penetration to come. Hot tears sprang into my eyes. Some survivalist, me... Raped and murdered on the first morning.

I heard a metallic click and then Naomi's voice, flat and calm.

"Put her down Cook, She's mine" she stood there with the Glock in her hand.

At once the grip on my body and neck slackened. I heard the guy chuckle throatily before I staggered free, the stink of his sweaty hand over my mouth making me nauseous.

The other figure had released Katie already and I saw with a shock that it was a woman. Dressed in camouflage like Cook, but definitely a woman. Tall and blonde with a short pony tail. Her face was tanned and pleasant, even under the paint. She spoke softly as Katie span round in anger.

"Whoa princess" she laughed, holding up her hands as my sister tried her best to attack. "Just being careful, right Cookie?"

The man now known as Cook grinned through his camo painted face. He looked fierce but oddly not so threatening as I had thought. He had short sandy hair and laughed crazily as Katie continued to try to punch the taller woman's lights out. Totally unsuccessfully..

"Naomi. You need to pull that little terrier off Jo. She bites too!" Cook chuckled.

"Katie, don't" I said sharply, and my twin turned hotly on me,

"Fuck Emily" she shouted " I thought I was going to _die_ there!"

"Sorry about the creeping up" Cook laughed "The old training is hard to resist. Besides, its not every day I get to grope one of a set of twins, is it Naoms?"

"Fuck off Cook" Naomi said calmly " I said she's mine. Hands...and filthy minds off, OK?"

Cooks bright blue eyes widened and his body shook as he laughed dirtily.

"Oh, I get it" he grinned "one twin for you and one for me, is that right babes. Fairs fair and all that?"

Katie glared at him as he towered over her small frame.

"You have about as much chance of fucking me as flying to the moon, _cunt_ " she spat viciously.

"Too scared to take a chance little girl" he smirked "They all give it up in the end. It's my magnetic personality"

"Dream on, tosser" Katie growled and walked a few steps away from him.

The woman with Cook smiled at Naomi and spoke softly.

"Hi. I'm Jo, as Cook as so charmingly introduced me. I'm Aussie SF, over here on secondment. Got caught up in the shit storm last night, and well, here I am"

She looked at Naomi and then me for a second before going on

"Shame about the sexier twin" she purred and I saw her eyes rake over my body, taking her time "You got the better deal Naomi" she grinned "Its true what they say about good things and small packages, isn't it?. Good enough to eat, this one"

I saw Naomi's eyes narrow at the totally unsubtle come on, and I felt her arm go round my waist. She looked levelly at the other woman before speaking.

"Its a free country, or what's left of it. Emily gets to choose, not me. And I'll let her do just that"

I looked at the tall Aussie coolly. She was fit, even under that bulky camo gear I could see she had big firm tits and long legs, bright green eyes and a pretty face, but I had made my choice already.

"Sorry girl" I said with mock sincerity " The only time _I'm_ going down under is in Naomi's pants"

Cook laughed so loud, I heard several birds take off in fright. He pointed at me and folded in half, holding his stomach.

"Fucking nice one Red" he yelled "Don't forget to take pictures tho, will you babes? Just my luck to end up bringing another muff monkey to the party. Are there ANY straight girls left for me?"

"Just me and Effy" Katie sneered, and I may be missing my guess, but I think your 'charms' might fall a bit short with us too, loser. I'd rather turn full time dyke than let you anywhere near my muff""

Cook was totally unperturbed by Katie's obvious hostility and carried on trying to get a better look at Katie's tits as he laughed hysterically.

"Priceless" he chuckled "I fucking love a challenge"

And so we met Cook, And Jo. Little did I know just how much impact this Australian soldier would have on all our lives in the weeks to come. Times were about to get very interesting. In the Chinese way, of course...


	4. Chapter 4

Emily

Its been a week since Cook and Jo turned up, and to be honest, things haven't been 'right' since. I was still sharing a room with Naomi, but that's hanging by a thread really. Its not that she's been cold or distant with me. She's just, I dunno, _odd_ now. The 6 of us have sort of split into two camps within a camp. Its a bit like Wimbledon from the 1930's. You know, Gentlemen and Players. The soldiers keep disappearing together, whispering in corners, and we just carry out the housekeeping chores between us. There's plenty of food in here. Probably enough to last the six of us a year without sourcing supplies, but we don't rely on it like that. Every day we go out in twos, looking for various things. Fresh meat, like chicken and sheep abound, and every day more or less, one of them will come back with a freshly gutted carcass. The freezer is bulging with meat, and the dry store has enough fruit and veg to last us until Judgement day. We collect fuel from deserted filling stations, and spares for the two vehicles from anywhere we can.

But that's not my problem. Being treated like a retarded ten year old is. Katie, Eff and I are only allowed out of sight if we have a big bad soldier with us. Cook is still trying unsuccessfully to get into Katie's pants, so whenever she goes out, so does he. Surprisingly, Naomi doesn't always claim me as her junior partner for foraging. I have been out with Jo more times than with her, which bothers me a bit. Jo's OK, but she definitely has the hots for me, and I feel bit uncomfortable when she looks at me as if I were fresh game. I'm sure Naomi knows that. She's definitely spotted a few of the looks I get from Jo when I'm not wearing much, but she doesn't seem as bothered about territorial stuff as she was when it was just the four of us. I'm puzzled honestly. I don't know why she is suddenly blowing hot and cold. I thought we were sorted.

Take last night. I had just had a shower, and popped back to 'our' room to get some deodorant, which I'd forgotten to take into the bathhouse with me. When I opened the door and went in, I was just wearing a small towel. I wasn't expecting anyone other than Naomi to be there. But her and Jo were sitting on her bed, cross legged, facing each other, with a map in between them, Obviously someone had said something funny, because I could hear their laughter as I pushed open the door. I stood there in the doorway for a second, bare footed and hair wet, until Naomi noticed me. Her face got serious and she folded up the map quickly. You know that feeling you get when you go into a room and everyone else is in on the joke but you? Well that's exactly how I felt then. I stood there for another two seconds, before Jo turned to face me.

"Wow, little Red" she said (and I fucking hate the fact that she and Cook shared a nickname for me) "Gonna give us a floor show hun?"

I stared at her, waiting for Naomi to deliver one of her trademark put downs, but she just stared at her hands, and the silence went on.

"Right" I said angrily. "Excuse me for interrupting. I'll just get my deodorant, and let you two grown ups carry on saving the world, shall I?"

Jo cat-called mockingly, and you know its kind of hard to be dignified when you're only wearing a glorified hand towel. I reddened, and grabbed my wash bag from the bedside cabinet. The silence was almost painful now, and I flashed Naomi an angry look, but she wasn't looking back. I grabbed a tee and shorts, together with fresh underwear and stomped off to Katie and Effy's room to get changed. When I came back to my room, its late, and all I can see of Naomi is a shape in the bed, and even breathing. I spent a couple of hours tossing and turning before coming to a decision.

So this morning I waited until Naomi and Jo had gone for a run, leaving Cook to guard us 'little people' Getting dressed quickly, I grabbed my stuff from the cupboard and my half of the wardrobe. It's not as if there is any problem with accommodation here, I have the choice of 20 other rooms. I walked down the corridor and found one with a better than average paint job and began to put my stuff away. After ten minutes, I looked round and smiled to myself. I have my own space again now, and honestly, it feels pretty good. Time I stood on my own feet again, I thought.

We were all having breakfast in the mess hall later when Jo and Naomi came back inside, dark sweat staining their green singlets, giggling and pretty much behaving like BFF's. I deliberately turned my head away when Naomi bent to give me a kiss good morning as she passed on the way to the showers. I saw her frown, and Katie definitely spotted the coldness I showed her. When the two of them had gone, she nudged me and said in a stage whisper "What's up Emsy?"

I shook my head. I didn't want an inquest on things over the granola.

"Later Katie" I said through pursed lips. She nodded silently and I saw her exchange a glance with Effy before continuing with her breakfast coffee.

Ten minutes later, I grabbed my empty plate and washed it in the sink before going back to my 'new room' About thirty seconds after I got in there, the door echoed to a small knock and Naomi stood at the entrance with her towel in her hand, hair wet and stringy around her face.

"What the fuck Emily?" she said sulkily "Why are you in here? Isn't this something people usually discuss?"

I glared at her "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't my postal application reach you yet?"

She blinked at that, but I was on a roll.

"I got fed up with interrupting grown up talk day after day, Naomi" I said bitterly

"You obviously need your privacy, now the three big bad wolves are reunited again. I wouldn't want to be in the way. Us poor civvies will just have to let you big strong soldiers look after us from now on huh? But at a distance, just in case we hear anything which scares us"

"Bit childish Emily" she said sharply, her eyes had hardened, and I remembered the way she had slapped down Katie on the first night.

"Exactly" I snapped " _Childish_ Emily. Good enough for a quick grope against the hotplates, but once something, or _someone_ better turns up, instantly disposable, yeah. Shouldn't you be washing Jo's back or something?"

I knew I had gone too far, but I was hurt and angry. I saw her face settle into a maddening mask of blank indifference.

"Thats fine" she said brutally "Of course, the fact that Jo wants to get into **YOUR** pants, not mine, has nothing to do with it, does it _Emsy_?"

"Maybe that's the solution then _Naomi_ " I spat " _she_ wants to shag me. _You_ obviously don't. I totally get that. Though why you bothered to get close to me then freeze me out, I have no fucking idea. Give Jo my new address when you next see her babes. I'm sure that sly Aussie tongue is more than a match for the Green Slime"

She looked as if I had slapped her, and just for a second I saw doubt and uncertainty in her eyes. But a moment later, she had spun and left the room, leaving my door wide open.

I know it was foolish, and I know it was wrong, but I couldn't resist. I knew Jo would be coming down the corridor herself a little later, so I quickly pulled my tee over my head and dropped my cargo pants to my ankles before throwing them on the bed. I stood there in my tiny blue lace underwear and pretended to fuss with something on the locker top. I made good and sure I was bending over when I heard her bare feet on the vinyl floor. I heard a small catch of breath as she spotted me through the open door. Gotcha, I thought. The footsteps paused for several seconds and I knew Jo was getting a good eyeful as I straightened up. I turned to the door and made a pretty good show of being surprised. Her eyes slid over my body slowly.

"Oh" I said insincerely "Sorry about that"

She looked at me the way a wolf looks at a sheep and a smile lit up her pretty face.

"No apology necessary babes" she grinned "Now THAT was a hell of a way to finish my morning exercise"

She ran her eyes over me one more time hungrily.

"If you'll excuse me Ems, I think I might have to give myself some... adjustments now" she chuckled, still taking in as much of me as she could.

My eyes blinked at that. Not exactly subtle then? Going to her room to get off to my body was a hell of a way for **MY** morning to start too...

So that's how it started. Naomi avoided me completely for the next two days. The uniforms carried on with their secret meetings and regularly disappeared into the woods to try to communicate with anyone left alive. We hadn't seen anyone else for days, and I was beginning to think we were the last people alive in the UK, when one afternoon, as I sat on my bed, scanning my camera for nice images to save, I heard shouting from the outside. There was the sound of running feet, and I grabbed my shiny new toy in my right hand before pulling on my Converse and running towards the sounds. Oh, I forgot to mention that. Jo had given me several shooting lessons the past few days. The shelter had a small indoor range in the lowest section, and she spent several hours, and quite a lot of ammunition, teaching me how to hit a man shaped target. I was no marksman. But if push came to shove, I reckoned I could hit something a yard or two in front of me. Katie had suffered Cooks wandering hands long enough to get reasonably competent too, but Effy, who was looking stronger every day on the healthy diet of meat and vegetables (and presumably no brown powder) strangely needed absolutely no guidance. As far as I know, she had never picked up a gun before, but when we were all in the range, Naomi had given her a Glock from Cooks gun bag and she hit every fucking target first time. She never seemed to aim, either. Just lined up and blew the fuck out of the cut out fifteen feet away. I made a mental note not to piss her off when she had a semi automatic in her hand in future...

Cook wanted to teach us how to use the LA85 short rifles, but Naomi put a block on that. She said that in a fire fight, anyone could use a pistol, but semi automatic assault rifles weren't for _amateurs_... I looked at her fiercely when she said that. One more insult to store away for later.

Running quickly towards the sounds outside, I burst out of the tunnel just in time to see Cook fire two quick rounds into the prone body of a man. Tap tap. One to the chest, one to the head. Clinical. He raised his gun and sent a short two second burst towards the trees before shouting to me to get the fuck down. I could see at least three men in the undergrowth, running from cover to cover, sending short bursts our way. The bullets pinged off the concrete outer shell of the shelter like wild west ricochets. Then I saw Naomi and Jo coming from behind the men, heads down and weaving. There were three intense volleys of shots and all three attackers dropped to the floor. Like Cook, the two women didn't waste time on them. Its not like a movie, you know, where the hero disables the villain and leaves him to writhe on the floor, turning his back so there is yet another fire-fight. Real killing isn't like that. Naomi stood over two of them and performed the double tap. Jo did the same to the remaining man. End of threat. Part of me was sickened, part of me was strangely exultant. I didn't know I those early days, how close to sex killing a man is. I suppose you are never more alive than when you are taking another life. We lived our cosy little worlds before the apocalypse, using people like Cook and Jo and Naomi to keep us safe. But the reality of what they do is vicious, and brutal. Primeval, almost. Soldiers kill for a living. Deal with it.

After an hour of searching for any others, Cook and Naomi came back convinced that it was just a random scouting party of raiders. They weren't apparently military trained, because the frontal assault they had carried out was doomed to failure, but it was a warning. I caught the strange look in the eyes of all three of our protectors. They looked as if they were high on something when they got back. High fiving and whooping, once they were inside and the doors were shut.

Naomi gave me a funny, wide eyed look as she passed and I almost got up and followed her. Katie and Effy had been hiding in the generator room as they had been told to, but I got a quick, passing bollocking from Cook for running into danger. He stopped me chasing after Naomi with words that completely stunned me.

"Not now little Red" he said. "She just needs a hot shower and ten minutes of Cookie magic"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"B...but she's fucking _gay_ Cook?" I said pitifully, hating myself for sounding so weak.

"Nahh" he smiled thinly "She's bi at best Ems. And right now she wants it hard and fast. Its not love she needs this minute. Just a mindless fuck. Don't take it personally. She's definitely got something going on for you, something real. But Cookie has what she needs right now" He emphasised his words by grabbing his crotch and smirking. I felt totally sick.

I stared at him as he followed Naomi into the corridor, the bile threatening to burst out of my throat as he disappeared. So much for true romance, I thought bitterly.

Just then Jo came past and glanced my way. She had blood on her hand and arm, and was wiping the barrel of her SA80 clean. She leaned over me and whispered harshly in my ear.

"I however, have _no_ problems at all scratching your itch Emily Fitch. Come shower with me?"

I stood there for several moments, not knowing how to respond.

Then almost without conscious thought, I found myself hand in hand with the Australian Special Forces girl as she walked slowly down to the shower block. As we approached, I could hear the slap of flesh on flesh and a deep moaning I realised could only have been from Naomi. My stomach threatened to rise up again. I knew I couldn't go in there while they were going at it. My head pounded as the orgasmic cries reached a crescendo. I turned to Jo and shook my head silently.

"Sorry Jo... I can't... not while they're doing that...sorry. Its too fucking horrible. Actually, I think I'm really going to be sick"

She shrugged good humouredly and started to drop her dirty gear on the floor as I watched.

"Your choice Ems. Sorry about this. It happens a lot after fire fights. Nothing personal. It's a soldier thing. She'll be back to normal later. The roses are still round the cottage door"

I shook my head numbly, still trying to retain my lunch.

"I think I want to leave this place" I said. "I'm going to talk to Katie and Effy about going home. There's nothing for us here"

I saw something like real concern pass over the Australian's face as she stripped naked. On another occasion, I might have been impressed with her heavy round tits and smooth brown skin. But not tonight. Not this night. I turned and bolted for the door. I just made it to my room as the pasta from lunchtime made a second appearance

XXX


	5. Chapter 5

Emily

If we were two groups before last nights little floor show, we were now like two opposing armies staring at each other across a battlefield, ready for war. I came into the mess at about 9 am the next morning, deliberately late for my chores, and dared anyone to pull me over it. No one did.

Katie, Effy and I sat about as far away as possible from the other group of three. To say that the atmosphere was poisonous is like saying Jenna Fitch was mildly homophobic. If looks could kill, there would be more than three corpses outside. Actually, there weren't any bodies outside any more, dead or otherwise. After the Cook/Naomi cabaret last night, the other three had loaded up the dead guys in the back of Cooks black Wrangler Jeep pick up and taken them to a local quarry to be dumped in the deep water. They came back long after us three had retired to Effy and Katie's room. We polished off a litre of Vladivar vodka and two litres of supermarket cola between us, listening to some cool music on the battery powered music pod we had dug out of the stores. It felt weird to be listening to Florence, Mumford and Jonah and the Whale, all dead now presumably, but it made things seem more 'normal', I guess, whilst we drank ourselves into a blissful oblivion.

I don't know, or care what the fuck the others got up to after they came back. Katie and I talked into the night about getting out of there the next day, first thing, but Effy said that making a quick decision based on jealousy and revenge wasn't a wise move, and although I hated her for pointing that obvious fact out, she was right. We each made plans of our own, and slept drunkenly on them.

No one spoke much at that breakfast, but Jo came over as we were clearing up the plates and cups. She stood looking at us for a second and then spoke quietly.

"OK guys. We need to talk about some things. I don't just mean what happened after the fire fight, but important life and death things too"

I bit back a remark about the relative importance of things that had happened last night, mainly because I wanted to keep enough venom in me to go round when we _did_ actually have it out in the meeting. Naomi and Cook had just left to have a recce round the perimeter, so I stayed quiet for the time being. We all just nodded when she suggested a group meeting at 12 noon. Why not?

Meantime, Katie and I went down to the indoor range and let off another 50 shots each at the cut out targets. There may have been some truth in the rumour that my targets were all called Naomi Campbell. Childish, moi?

After cleaning our rooms and sorting out some outdoor clothing and backpacks in case we did decide to make a quick departure after all, the three of us made our way to the comms room. The walls had a load of redundant radio and electronic equipment round it in banks. Because of the uncertain fuel situation, we had turned off anything that wasn't essential. Just the open short wave radio channel and the TALON secure satcom system remained hot, although both were silent,, and had been for days. Nothing seemed to be happening outside our little bubble.

The other three were already there when we came into the room, seated at a large wooden table about 8 feet long. They lined up one side, and we grabbed chairs opposite them. I made fucking sure that I was opposite Jo. I had no wish to be staring into treacherous ice blue eyes, or Cooks triumphant ones, whatever the meeting held for us.

Cook, of course was as relentlessly cheerful as ever. He shouted a greeting to Katie and Eff and smiled cheekily at me when I sat down. He was totally unfazed when I glared back at him spitefully. Of course, he had nothing to be miserable about, did he? He had just comprehensively nailed the one person surviving in Britain I was stupid enough to be crazy about. Magic.

"Right, kiddies" he said brightly "Debrief on yesterday then is first item on the agenda" I could feel Naomi staring at me from the corner of my vision, but kept my eyes on Cook, much as his stupid face made me sick to the stomach. I kept replaying the slap of flesh on flesh and Naomi's excited moans. It was driving me crazy. I shook myself mentally. Get it together Fitch, I thought.

"Result of last nights enemy action, Good guys 4, bad guys 0. Looks like they were part time soldiers at best judging by the stupid all out way they attacked and the assortment of weaponry , but its a lesson for us all. They got inside the perimeter, and that's unacceptable. I shot one intruder on the steps of the bunker, and that's too fucking close for comfort. Emily, you were told to keep your head down if we got any incoming. You didn't, and that's a bad, stupid thing, right?

I stared levelly at him and didn't answer. After five seconds of silence, he let it slide.

"Right. Moving on. Us three professionals have now got a bit more of a handle of what's happening out there in the big wide world. All communications are basically fucked. There doesn't seem to be any sort of emergency government squawking anywhere, so the system has collapsed completely. We still don't know if it was conventional or nuclear, or even if it _was_ an enemy attack, but the South East and Midlands seems to have pretty much disappeared in the blasts. There is no radiation coming in at the moment, for which we can thank the westerly winds we have had for the last week or so, but that has its own problems too. If the States has been hit, which seems likely, given the silence from the other side of the pond, any fallout will be here in short order. We have to prepare for that. In any case, we may have to move out at short notice. I am open to suggestions, but we were discussing possibly The Scilly Isles or The Channel Islands? Can anyone here drive a bloody boat?" There may be other people like us on one of the offshore islands, and its a whole lot easier to defend ourselves when the sea is our perimeter fence.

None of us civvies responded to his clipped report or the open ended questions, and he sighed and opened his arms to emphasise the next sentence.

"OK then. Cards on the table. Lets talk about last fucking night, shall we?" he looked at me and Naomi in turn.

"You two need to sort this shit out between you" he said briskly "Why don't you meet up after this in private, have a girlie pillow fight, and then go back to being happy muff monkeys together, because things can't go on like this. There are only 6 of us left here, and it could be a long while before we link up with any other survivors. We need to get on with each other, right?"

I couldn't let that one go. It was too raw. I stared at Naomi with utter contempt, and for once she flinched at my expression.

"Nothing to sort out Cook" I said bitterly "Naomi obviously prefers bending over in the shower for you when she's needs servicing. Is she a good fuck Cook? Sounded like it from where I was standing"

Her eyes flashed with anger and what looked like a touch of guilt, but she bit her lip and stayed silent. I saw Jo send Katie a pleading look, but my sister had my back and just stared at her impassively. She wasn't getting any help from anyone called Fitch today.

Strangely enough, it was Effy who broke the silence which followed my barbed remark.

"Can _I_ say something?" she said quietly

"Floors yours, babe" Cook said, probably relieved that he could duck out of the firing line, at least temporarily.

"First, Naomi, you're a complete tit" she said simply "I'm your best friend, and I love you, but what you did last night was worse than almost anything else you could have done to Emily. It was cruel, heartless and unnecessary. Have you never heard of self help when you're over excited? I honestly don't know _why_ you did that. You'll have to live with it now and hope that Emily is a better person than you are. _I_ wouldn't forgive you, ... _ever_ "

Naomi dropped her eyes and stared at her hands, and I realised that Effy had made more impact with her few calm words than I could in an hour of screaming.

"If you're right Cook" she turned to him "and we depend on each other to get through this thing, whatever it is, what part of shagging Naomi in front of Emily makes that more likely? Is ritual humiliation part of group bonding now?"

This time Cook averted his eyes. I suddenly realised that Effy had the power in her skinny body to skewer any one of us if she chose to. She then looked directly at Jo.

"And you, Miss 'I Like Going Down Under' 2013. Where do you get off, driving wedges between obvious couples?. Keep your mind above your waistband for as long as it takes us to get us all out of here. If you're that desperate for a shag, come see me tonight. I have dabbled in the... power of the pussy... in the past...Can you do that small thing, _hun_?"

Fuck me, I thought. Incoming or what?...

She turned to me then.

"Emily" she said slowly "Do you still want to get out of here and away from Naomi?"

I stared at Cook and Naomi in turn, watching their expressions as I spoke

"More than anything " I said in a voice laced with ice "There really is nothing whatsoever here to keep me here now, is there Naomi?"

I saw Naomi flinch again, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Effy held up her hand, stopping her before she could say anything.

"So your little spell of self indulgent R & R achieved what exactly Cook... Naoms?" she said coldly "Except the potential breakdown of our group and the end of something real and good in your life Campbell. You really don't want _anyone_ to care, do you?"

Naomi swallowed hard and stayed quiet, but I could see her eyes shining with something that looked suspiciously like tears.

"Can I say something?" Jo spoke then. Effy nodded and folded her arms, sitting back in her chair. Her accurate verbal hand grenades seemed to have done more damage than my potential hissy fit could ever achieve.

"Effy has really put us all in our places, and we should thank her for it" she looked at Naomi and Cook in turn before continuing " I wonder _who_ are the professionals here? We've excluded Katie Emily and Effy from our plans, just assumed that they would defer to us because we're soldiers. Its been disrespectful and just plain wrong... Emily?" she looked at me apologetically "I'm sorry for coming on to you when I knew you and Naomi were an item. It was stupid and selfish. Can you forgive me?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice to stay unbroken if I used it.

"Cook. You need to stay the fuck away from Naomi from now on, at least where it isn't absolutely necessary. Getting your dick damp is a side issue from now on, OK?"

To be fair to Cook, after a second or two, he nodded too. Jesus, life is full of surprises, isn't it?

"Naomi?"

She looked up at Jo bleakly. I think she was still trying to process my decision to leave.

"I have no idea if Emily can ever forgive you for humiliating her like that. If she does, I would count myself the luckiest fucking dyke alive if I were you. If she doesn't... well, sooner or later, we are going to find some other people and somewhere permanent to live. When that happens, another woman is going to see what is under your nose and whip it away from you for good. Look at her Naomi...you're punching way above your weight, aren't you. What are you fucking scared of?"

Still Naomi sat in silence, and I could feel Katie fidgeting beside me. She raised her hand and spoke in a voice laced with liberal amounts of contempt.

"Personally, Campbell" she hissed "I hope she doesn't. She deserves better than a part time muff monkey like you with the emotional range of a toaster. I make you one promise, and listen to me when make it, because you really don't know me at all. If you hurt her again, in **any** fucking way, I will stick one of your precious Glocks in your ear one morning when you're sleeping, and blow what little brains you have out of the other one. OK?"

We all stared at Naomi, waiting for an explosion which didn't come. She just nodded and then got up and walked quickly out of the room, head down.

"Right then" Katie said "Conference over. Emsy and I have plans to make. Later, losers" she smiled mirthlessly and I got up and followed her out, but not before Effy held onto my arm tightly and whispered in my ear

"I know it hurts like hell now Ems. But don't do anything you can't undo. I think someone has got the message at last"

I looked at her for a second and nodded in acceptance. She had made more sense than anyone this morning.

XXX

Naomi

I sat in my room and cried for a full half hour after the meeting. Katie was right. Toasters have miles of emotional range on me. I met this girl Emily less than two weeks ago, and already I had trouble thinking of any future without her in it. I had come back in from the fire fight full of piss and wind, wound up ready to explode with unused energy. If we had been back in barracks, I would have probably found that sweet little Red Cap Laura, with the impressive tits and the wide vocal range, and given her a fast and furious shag against the office wall. She was always up for some vertical loving. I wouldn't have dreamed of searching out one of the lads for a mercy fuck. Why the hell had I decided letting Cook fuck me was a good idea? The two shags we had had in training should have taught me that was a very very _bad_ idea. OK, what he lacked in technique, he made up for in stamina, but there are battery powered toys with more empathy than him. He made me come, but only because I was virtually there already after I stripped off my bloody uniform.

No, the reason I used Cook to get off was simple. He was safe and predictable. Emily Fitch was anything but. With Cook, a shag was just a shag, a biological act with a certain, explosive outcome. No kisses, no foreplay, just rough penetration and instant relief. With Emily it would have been so much more. I wanted our first sex together to be special, loving and private. So what did I do? I let her see me naked and humping Cook, when I could have been alone in bed with her all night, way to go Naomi, way to fucking go...

I thought for a second how _I_ would feel, seeing her with anyone else, and the gorge rose in my throat. I would be devastated, just as she was. But it wasn't just the physical act. The thought of her giving herself to someone made my stomach twist and my brain scream. What have I done?

Its probably too late now, I thought miserably. She will never forget or forgive what I did to her. I rolled over and bunched the pillow under my head. It's over...

XXX


	6. Chapter 6

Emily

"No fucking _way_!" I shouted in Cooks face when he told me. It was the morning after the meeting and we were going out on the scrounge, mainly because diesel was getting low again and we needed to fill the 6 x 20 litre Jerry cans lined up on the tailgate of the Landie. It was Cooks usual duty to allocate teams, and guess who I was with for the day? Yep. Naomi fucking Campbell. Stitch up, or what?

"I want to go with Jo, in the Jeep" I said firmly, folding my arms in my best KFF impression. "No way am I going to spend an entire day with that bitch"

"Not an option kid" Cook said easily "Jo is going with Katie and Effy to get some heavy duty batteries for the handsets from that cash and carry on the bypass, and I need to stay here fixing the rod antenna on the roof. It got hit by a stray shot the other day. We need to keep the comms open. Unless you fancy shinning up that 10 metre pole, short stuff?"

I shook my head. Heights weren't my thing at all...

"Well, why can't _I_ go with Jo, and Katie can ride with the whore of Babylon today?" I said petulantly "They make a good set of book ends actually. The Fellatio Sisters? Misses Spit and Swallow".

He laughed manically for a while at my lame humour and then clapped me on the shoulder way too hard. Campbell was still inside, grabbing maps and extra ammo, so she wasn't here to wince at my description of her.

"Sorry kiddo" he grinned. "This makes better sense, that's all. You're a fucking good shot now, and I've shortened the barrel of that over and under bad guy splatterer specially for you. Make a right mess of anyone trying to hijack the truck. Suck it up little Red, it's only for one morning, not all day"

He shrugged and moved off to equip the other vehicle with weapons. We never left the perimeter without at least personal side arms and one long weapon in the vehicle. It was Jo's idea to shorten the twin barrel 12 gauge shotgun for me to use. With my smaller frame and arms, I struggled with anything bigger, especially in the cab of a truck, so it had sort of become my default weapon. Lethal at up to 10 yards. Over that it would give you a nasty case of teenage pockmarks, not much more

Soon enough, Naomi came out dressed in her standard military greens over a pale grey vee neck T shirt. She had on her DPM camo trousers and a plain, dark green cotton army jacket with multiple pockets and the collar turned up. If this had been a week ago, I would have found the sight uncomfortably hot. Uniform suited her.. I saw her checking the side pouches of the jacket for spare ammunition, her combat knife and short range radio. Looking up at the Landie, she saw me sitting in the passenger seat, glaring at her and couldn't quite stop the involuntary wince as she recognised who today's star prize was. I guess Cookie and Co hadn't told her who her backup de jour would be.

She walked round the truck, keeping her eyes down, checking tyres and the bodywork for loose nuts and damage. I had already done that, meticulously, but what does a mere civilian know, huh?

I stared out of the window, avoiding her gaze as she turned the key and waited for the warning lights on the dash to go out. I heard her sigh, and then she turned the ignition off again. I turned my head in surprise and looked at her as she sat there, her shoulders slumped.

"Are we going then?" I said sharply, and she flashed a tired look at me before answering.

"Emily" she started "I..."

"Save it Naomi" I growled "What's done is done. Lets just get today out of the fucking way, huh?"

She took another deep breath before reaching for the key, then stopped and turned to face me again.

"No" she said in a determined voice "We need to get this sorted before we go. Whatever your feelings for me are now, our lives, and other peoples, depend on each other. Can we at least be civil ?"

"Fine" I said bluntly "Civil, I can do. Friendly, no chance"

"OK" she said shakily "Then I'm going to talk while I drive. You can choose to ignore me, but I'm going to get it out it anyway. We can't go on like this"

I slumped back in the seat and folded my arms in resignation, It was going to be a fucking long day at this rate.

We drove down the long winding forest road until we got to the B road which lead to what used to be called civilisation. I had no idea where the locals had gone since we'd been holed up in the bunker. I guess they had fled to the bigger population centres, but whatever had happened, they were gone. Not a vehicle or person was visible for miles. It was surreal.

As we turned onto the dusty tarmac road, she started to speak.

"I can apologise until my voice disappears, but that's not going to hack it is it Emily?" she said, raising her voice over the roar of the big diesel.

I shook my head and looked steadily out of the windscreen. No one said I had to make it easy for her, just because we were stuck with each other today. My guts still churned every time I saw Cook with her, even if they were just passing in the corridor. I couldn't forget that he had been naked with her... _inside_ her... I blinked a small tear away again. Bollocks, I said I wouldn't shed any more over her. Fucking treacherous tear ducts.

"I have some... trust issues, Emily " she said simply and I couldn't help it, I fucking laughed out loud.

"No shit Sherlock" I said bitterly. " and now so do I. Congratulations"

She shook her head sadly, I don't know whether it was at me or her.

"My father left us when I was 4" she said, and brushed a tear from her own eye "My mum was a bit of magnet for waifs and strays after that. I lost count of the number of idle males she housed over my teenage years. I got used to my house being a sort of Christ themed who's who. Not the most stable of upbringings. Everything in my life seemed to be transient, not permanent"

I shrugged. "What the fuck has all that got to do with you shagging Cook the other night...when you should have been _shagging me_!" I shouted, despite my self made promise not to get involved in a tit for tat argument. Coldly angry again, despite my determination to just let it go.

"Cook isn't the issue here Emily, I am" she said " The sex meant nothing at all. Its _me_ who's head is fucked"

"He seemed to be doing quite a job of fucking the rest of you too" I said meanly "Judging by the ecstatic moaning and groaning you were doing in the shower. Sounded quite the stud, our James Cook. Give you a proper seeing to then, did he _Naoms_?"

Her shoulders slumped again, and she blinked away another few tears, rubbing her cheeks fiercely with one hand as she steered with the other.

"Its _because_ he's Cook that I could do it" she said. "Because it was meaningless, basic, impersonal. Sex with him is just scratching an itch...sex with you would have been...important"

I wasn't having that, and I turned to look at her directly for the first time since we had pulled away.

" _You_ don't get to decide that" I said flatly " _I_ fucking wanted to be the person you turned to when you were scared, or tired or horny, or even just wanting a cuddle. How do you think I felt hearing you two go at it, when you hadn't said more than two civil words to me for days?. _I'm_ person you kissed and said was the one you wanted to be with? What exactly had I done to hurt you so badly Naomi, so that you thought _that_ would even be a thing to do?"

I was spitting poison in my anger, and she winced as I raged at her.

"You did nothing wrong Emily" she said quietly, and I had to strain to hear her over the engine "Thats just it. You frighten the shit out of me, just being _you_. I've never let anyone get as close to me as you, and it scares me half to death. Within days of being with you, I could feel myself giving in to my feelings, and that's something I have spent 20 odd years avoiding. I don't do dependence on anyone else. Never have"

"OK" I said "So we're clear about things now then are we? Just work colleagues from now on. Nothing personal, right" I stared at her stonily. I fucking hated her at that moment for making me so bitter.

She reached up a hand and rubbed her eyes hard, leaving red marks on her face.

"No" she said "I never said I was happy with that. I just don't know how to handle the way I feel about you. If I had gone to bed with you after that fire fight , I would have been lost forever. Making love with you would end all the self pretence. I wouldn't be able to tell myself that it meant nothing after all. I _hate_ what I've done to you, and I hate myself for being such a stupid, callous bitch"

"Well. That makes two of us" I said and looked away again.

She sighed again and reached over with her left hand, putting it on my arm.

"Don't..." I said "Don't touch me. You lost that right when you fucked Cook"

"OK" she said in a voice without hope "But will you promise me one thing?"

"Depends what it is" I said evenly, keeping my voice level, despite my churning stomach.

"Don't... run out on us yet. Give me the chance to prove I really _do_ care for you Emily. I couldn't bear it if you and Katie went off on your own because of something I've done. If anything happened to you out here, I would kill myself too"

I glanced back at her and saw fresh tears on her cheeks. I tried to throw it back to her, I mean what the fuck did she mean, kill herself? That wasn't even fair, making me responsible for her miserable life. But the words stuck in my throat.

Finally I got myself together enough to answer her.

"Look. It's going to take a lot more than a few words to get any forgiveness from me Naomi. Lets just be 'friends' for the time being, yeah? Although fuck knows what Katie will have to say about it all. She wants to use your tits for ashtrays, you know... _and_ she doesn't even smoke?

She laughed a nervous little laugh, and I found myself laughing with her, at least for a couple of moments.

The rest of the journey was made in silence.

XXX

It was the smell that gave it away. Its weird how, after thousands of years of evolution, and the cloak of modern day numbness civilisation shrouds us in, that basic human survival instincts remain, faint but waiting to be used. I don't know how long it has been since human beings have been seen as easy prey, but we obviously keep some of the primitive fight or flight reactions our ancestors would have needed on a daily basis just to stay alive. If you asked me to describe it afterwards, I wouldn't have a fucking clue how to. I just _knew_...

It was a musty, faint odour, but it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, and my stomach clench. Naomi was standing by the pumps of this little country garage, with the access hatch to the diesel tank open and our small hand pump mounted on its cradle beside it. She had lowered the tube down to the liquid below and was about to connect the mechanical arm up via the brass valve, so that she could start filling the jerry's, which were lined up in a row beside her. I was on the roof rack, with my shotgun under one arm, scanning the countryside around us for danger with the small Leica binoculars Jo had lent me Whatever our differences, and they were still huge, I wasn't about to let one of our team get bushwhacked while I was responsible. The group needed this fuel.

When I got the first whiff, I spun round and rescanned the area, but saw nothing. I realised with a jolt that whatever it was, it was closer than I thought. I had no fucking clue just how close till I dropped the glasses on the lanyard round my neck, and used my eyes to quickly look around the empty fuel bays. I didn't see it for a second, until it moved. It was brown or tan, whatever, my eyes focussed on it keenly but my brain didn't believe what it was being told for a moment. About 6 feet long, plus an outstretched, black tipped tail. Huge and rippling with powerful muscles rippling under the thick skin of its haunches. A fucking lioness, massive and terrifying...hunting something...oh Jesus...hunting _her_.

My mouth instantly dried up, and, as I tried unsuccessfully to shout a warning it moved again. Slowly and carefully it stalked Naomi. It must have been fifteen feet away from where she was standing when it stopped and crouched lower. I saw its back paws grip the soft tarmac as it poised to leap. My brain was now screaming at me to do something, anything, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I raised the shotgun in my hands and pointed it at the beast, knowing with a sickening certainty that at this range, it would only wound, not kill. I cursed the fact that I hadn't got the physical reach to use proper rifle, or any one of the other high power weapons stored at the shelter. A quick burst from any one of them would have killed it in a second. But not this fucking pop gun.

I saw its tail swish once, and knew I had maybe a single second to react. It was about to spring. Raising the barrel of my gun, I saw its huge head turn to observe the unexpected movement. Fear rose up in my mouth like a solid thing, but Naomi was still turning the valve thread slowly, completely unaware that death had come to say hello us, and was just feet away from her.

I pulled the twin triggers, firing both barrels in quick succession. Several things then happened at once. As I predicted, the buckshot in the cartridges being designed to stop a man at close range, they only penetrated the skin of the lion an inch or so. Not enough to hit any vital organs. It roared so loud, I was sure it could be heard back at the bunker. Its head went back and I saw those huge canines bared as its nerve endings registered the pain of the impact of those heavy pellets. I saw Naomi straighten up instantly and her her head turn to look at me in shock. Then the lion moved. Not towards her, but towards me. I fumbled in my pocket, trying to get another two cartridges out of my jacket pocket, but my fingers were numbed with fear and I watched them drop uselessly onto the roof of the Landie and roll off the edge.

I looked up then, to see that the wounded creature had covered the distance between us in a fraction of a second. Its mouth looked huge, open and roaring in rage. I could see it clawing its way up onto the roof, muscles bulging as it stretched to reach me. Terror paralysed my limbs and I stared helplessly at it as it came within inches of my trembling legs. This was it then. I had saved her, but at the cost of my own life.

Just then I dimly heard a succession of loud bangs. Rapid heavy thumps of 9mm rounds going off, and the lion threw its head back again and screamed in agony. A ripping, primeval sound, something I never ever want to hear again. As it writhed and twisted under the impact of what I assumed to be her bullets, it turned from me and faced whatever was torturing it. I could see Naomi, standing in the classic pistol firing crouched position, her face calm and impassive. She was firing shot after shot into the body of the animal, pausing only to aim again, seeming to choose the kill points forensically. The shots went on, even as the lion made an attempt to attack her. She never moved from her stance, aim, fire, aim, fire, like a metronome. The lion began to stagger towards her, but unbelievably, she walked to meet it. Aim, fire. Aim fire. After ten or eleven rounds, I don't know exactly, the animal slowed its approach. Naomi stepped forward again as it sank to its stomach and, sighting along the barrel, she aimed for its head. Two more quick reports and a spurt of brain tissue from the side of its head shot out onto its shoulder. It subsided on to the hot tarmac, gave one gentle last sigh, and its eyes closed for the last time. It was dead.

XXX

Thirty minutes later we were back in the Landie, speeding towards the bunker. 6 full jerry cans of diesel in the back. Behind us, at the petrol station, a fully grown lion, probably escaped from a local zoo after the keepers had fled, was lying on the road, already surrounded by carrion crows, squabbling for the eyes and other tasty morsels. I turned away from the view in the mirror and spoke for what seemed the first time in hours.

"Can we pull over please. I think I'm going to be sick?"

"In a mile or so Emily" Naomi said calmly "She might have some feline friends in the area, best not to chance our luck too much, huh? If you really are going to upchuck, I'm sure Lizzie won't mind if you promise to wash her paintwork down when we get home"

I swallowed, praying that my churning stomach would hold out. After a few seconds, when I thought I would lose that battle, it settled and I sat back on the seat, holding on to the door grab as Naomi expertly steered the heavy truck between abandoned cars and lorries. Soon enough we were on the back track to the bunker, and she slowed, then stopped the truck, pulling over into a small passing bay.

"You can get out now" she said softly "If you're still feeling queasy Em"

I got out gingerly, my muscles still singing with lactic acid after our close escape. We hadn't spoken much before getting the hell out of that place. She was right, it was entirely possible that our late friend was part of a pride, and we didn't want to have to explain to the rest of the family that mummy wouldn't be home with a nice snack tonight, in fact not ever.

Naomi got out too, and came round to my side of the Landie. We stood side by side, looking quietly out over the fields through the trees. It seemed impossible that all those things had happened just minutes ago.

"Thank you" I said finally, when the silence got uncomfortable

"No thank you, she said simply. "I think I'll avoid Shell stations in future, doesn't Esso have a tiger as its logo...sounds much friendlier"

I laughed hollowly and so did she, then we were silent again. Something popped into my brain, and despite my recent near death experience, I couldn't resist.

"You know that whole death and sex scenario thing you told me about earlier?"

I turned to look at her, and saw her mind trying to work out what I was getting at"

"Y..yeah?" she breathed eventually. Still with the puzzled frown on her face.

I sighed and reached for her collar, pulling her face down level with mine.

"This means nothing, OK. Just post traumatic stress relief. It doesn't mean we're together, or that it will ever happen again, or that you can go around with a big shit eating grin on your face when we get back...I. Just. Need To ..."

I saw comprehension dawn on her face and she looked like someone had just read out her own winning lottery ticket numbers to her.

Lets just say I wasn't feeling nauseous any more.

"Oh" she said simply and grinned "Riiiight"

I pulled her face to mine and captured her lips in a hard kiss. She moaned into my mouth, and her arms came round me tightly. I let her relax into the kiss, before pushing my tongue aggressively into her open mouth. I could hear moaning again, but realised with a shock it was me, not her.

I tore at her buttons then lifted her tee up above her tits. Pushing her bra up too I squeezed and cupped her breasts, thumbing the nipples roughly. She whimpered as I pulled back from the kiss and bent over, sucking one excited nipple into my mouth then biting on it quite hard. Her hand came up and held the back of my head as I sucked and tongued it. I fumbled with her waistband, trying to unbutton her trousers and then felt her fingers helping mine. As they dropped to her ankles, I pushed my hand roughly into her blue knickers and found her wet and open for me already

I could hear her moaning "Christ, Oh Emily, Oh Jesus" as I found her opening and slid two fingers up inside her in one movement. I used my thumb to circle her clit and watched her face as she lost it inch by inch. I pumped away, enjoying the hell out of making her lose control. She tried to touch me with scrabbling hands, but that wasn't what I wanted. Not yet. I used my hips to push my hand harder against her, and it had the delicious side effect of rubbing my own cunt against the back of my hand as I worked away at her. Soon we were both moaning, my head now on her shoulder, her hair across my face. I started to convulse at the same time she did. I curled my two fingers back until they were opposite my thumb as it circled outside her and the moment I did that she came. She screamed my name over and over as her hips bucked and knees gave way. I moaned my own release as her heat clenched round my moving fingers. I don't think I have ever come so hard.

We stood there quietly for a few seconds afterwards, my fingers still inside her warmth before I slid them free and stood straight. She wouldn't meet my eyes until I gripped her chin in my other hand and made her watch as I slid my glistening fingers up and then into my mouth, sucking the taste of her excitement from them. Her eyes got very wide and she started to say something, but, removing my wet fingers from my mouth, I used them to close her lips. I saw her nostrils flare as she registered her own scent.

"Shhh Naomi" I said, my breathing just about returning to normal "Just a bit of meaningless after death sex, huh babe. Doesn't mean a _thing_ , does it ...?"

She looked at me as I turned from her and started walking the half mile or so back to the bunker on my own. She never said anything as I walked away. But then she didn't need to. I think I made my point, don't you?


	7. Chapter 7

Katie

The bitch masquerading as my quiet little growler groping sister wouldn't give me the time of day when she came back from her 'picnic' with Naomi. Just fucked off with a strange look on her face and spent an hour in the shower, using all the fucking hot water in the process. OK, I know it wasn't actually a picnic, especially after we got told about them nearly being eaten by a fucking lion of all things, but anyway, I'm her _sister_ right? I stood up for her along with the others when that blonde cow was getting bitch slapped by the whole group for shagging Cook after the raid. And don't say I had an ulterior motive. The fact that Effy told me he's got a 9" dick is irrelevant, right? (and how does she even _know_?) Size isn't everything. I should know, I've had more of them than Simon Cowell has had face lifts. Jesus, that guy must have to mop his brow at the back of his head by now...

No, big cocks don't do anything for me...well maybe a bit, especially when I'm on top... _stop_ it Katie..., but he's an available penis in a world of rapidly reducing redundant dicks. And now he's gone and shagged the blonde bitch too. I never knew she had it in her, well I know she's had it _in_ her, but fuck it, what makes her so special? If it turns out that there are actually no more fit guys left on the planet, someone has to make sure the human race doesn't die out, right? I'm just extrapolating... if that's the only way to preserve the species, I _am_ willing to sacrifice myself for the good of mankind, OK? Just saying...

Either that or go 100% gay like my muff munching sister. And that has never been on my fucking event horizon till now, I can tell you. OK, there was that time in year 13, when that cow Sarah Keenan took advantage of me after I had been blown off by Bruno, that big blonde guy in the 6th form, but that was just the drugs and booze right? At least I _know_ what it tastes like now... **NO** , fuck it, don't go down that route Katie (Go _down_ , for fucks sake, does _everything_ have to have a double meaning?) Alright, I had a pleasant evening learning what was so fun about 69, but it's like anchovies right? Sometimes they make the meal extra delicious, doesn't mean you want them with your fucking cornflakes every morning, does it?

So I guess I'm probably the only female present who isn't gagging to get into another woman's pants here. Emily fancies Naomi, despite what the lamo fucker has done to her. Naomi obviously lusts after my sister big time, and despite my threats to kill her on sight if she as much as looks wrong at her, I _know_ my sister. She has the same look on her face she had when she followed Miss Pritchard, our art teacher around all year in middle school. Like with her tongue proper hanging out? Should have worn a sandwich board saying something like ' **Emily Fitch, Virgin of this Parish . Show me the ways of the Muff, Miss'**

Jo obviously fancies Emily too, but I think she's backed off now that she's been rumbled. So that leaves Effy, who shocked the fuck out of me when she offered to make monkey with Jo after lights out. 'Power of the fucking pussy' indeed. I share a room with the bitch. Does she expect me to sit in the corridor while she's playing hide the finger with the Bondi beaver buffer? Or am I supposed to sit and take notes? "Just move your tongue a shade to the left Eff, I think she's about to blow..." Jesus, why am I even considering the dialogue! Repeat after me Katie Fitch, Cock good, Muff bad...

Nope, like it or lump it, I think Cook is the only port in this particular storm . Much as I hate getting it second hand, and forget about what Emily might tell you about the Holiday Inn and Bristol Rovers Reserves. The fact is there were only two of them sober enough to get it up after I did my little impromptu strip tease for them, Who the hell brings an 8 foot metal pole to a surf and turf party anyway? I was showing them my technique, OK? Having sex with them both at once was just a sensible use of my valuable time. You know the old saying 'One swallow doesn't make a summer'? Well I blew that particular myth out of the fucking water, pun _intended_...

So I guess its down to ' _Operation Cookie_ ' then, Otherwise I am going to need a new head for my electric toothbrush quicker than I thought.

 **Later that night.**

They were all sitting around like someone had just died, for fucks sake, which is a bit of a sick joke considering we were all very much alive and the rest of the known universe was in ashes. Emily was as usual playing with her equipment – and, just... _no..._ dirty minds, that's her _camera_ I'm talking about...Cook and Jo were playing some stupid card game which meant they had to have one of the cards stuck to their forehead whilst...Oh fuck it... it was so boring I can't even begin to remember the rules... Effy was doing something mysterious with pasta and tomatoes at the stove, and Naomi was fuck knows where. Probably getting herself off to a stolen picture of my sisters tits, I don't know. I had had enough of this shit every night. The main door was proof against a close nuclear detonation. Cook had repaired the antenna, so we had communication, and the three CCTV screens on the wall played a totally boring night vision roll of the outside world. We had enough weaponry to start our own little civil war. Short of the fucking A Team turning up with RPG's and plastic explosives, we were safe enough in our little rabbit hole for the night. Time to let off some steam, yeah?

I had a secret stash, which even Emily didn't know about. Time was it would have been revealed pretty quickly, like at that stupid pyjama party when we were 16, but the opportunities for someone to go delving into my bra had been limited lately, so it remained my secret, for the time being.

We'd had the odd drink since we holed up here, but drugs were off the chart, apparently. Well, fuck that. MDMA is supposed to be enjoyed, right, otherwise what's the point in surviving if there's no fun left to be had? I hadn't had my fanny fondled since I don't know when, and I'm not counting the recently deceased Kurt, because frankly, his idea of foreplay was asking if I spit or swallowed. I mean, what sort of a question is that anyway. Do I _look_ impolite?

No, it must be nearly a month now, and that's like 'Get thee to a nunnery' territory for me. Practice makes perfect you know, and I have been called a mint shag often enough to start to believe it. Time for direct action and some inhibition reducing chemicals...

I started with Cook, mainly because he was the only one with the right equipment and the personality to go with it. I knew he would be up for fun and games, He just needed a kick start. I interrupted his lamo game and cornered him in the corridor. When I showed him the little white bag, his eyes got big and it took maybe two seconds for him to agree to join me in a line. I guess we were officially off duty then, huh?

Jo came out to see what we were giggling about, and another recruit was added to our team. She went in and whispered in Effys ear and within a microsecond, pasta surprise was replace by strong chemicals in Effy's plat de jour. Emily wasn't difficult to persuade either. I remember her with the fucking 'shrooms that time in the woods when we had just taken our A levels. One raised eyebrow and she was spinning the sparklers with the best of us. I'm not sure she didn't get her end away that night either, I think that cow Melissa definitely had a post shag look on her face the next morning when she came out of the tent with Emily in tow. Complete with leaves in their hair...

Anyway, with most of us well on our way to being off our faces, it was time to bring the blonde bitch into the mix. OK, I didn't want her and Emily forgetting their differences just yet, but we needed even numbers if the night was to go well, so I reluctantly let Eff and Jo go to her room. For a while I thought she would flip us off, because they were far too long getting her, but by the time Cook had rigged up the manky speakers to Emily's iPod dock and had broken out the limited range of booze we had, the party was under way. Never been a Foo Fighters fan much, prefer a bit of bass and grind, but I found myself belting out 'Learn to Fly' with the rest of them despite Cooks lame air guitar impressions nearly resulting in broken limbs all round. Dave Grohl was never on my 'I want to shag' poster wall as a teenager, but on a dark night, with enough booze in me, he could play a few B flats and arpeggio's on my body, I suppose...

Jo came back eventually, with a reluctant Naomi in tow, and Effy floated in behind them wearing the sort of expression she specialised in. Kind of other worldly and knowing at the same time. Annoys the fuck out of me most of the time, but I was proper buzzing now, and as 'Monkey Wrench' blasted out of the speakers, I was as fucked as everyone else. I still had to frog-march Naomi to the table so she could snort a line or two. I honestly think she may never have taken stuff before, judging by the way she screwed up her face and moaned when it hit her. She definitely needs to get a life that cow, shit like I just gifted her is gonna be in fucking short supply from now on in, I can promise you. My friendly neighbourhood drug dealer is currently doing a moon dust impression in the upper atmosphere right about now. Early morning Police raids are not a problem for him any more...

Anyway, several shots of neat vodka and another line made sure everyone was in party mood pretty fast, and an hour later I was having a fucking surreal conversation with Effy and Cook about threesomes. I saw it coming, but frankly I was too fucked to care. No way was I gonna participate in one with my room mate though, even though they were both up for it. When I got a second alone with Cook , I made it clear that if that sort of thing floated his boat, that was fine, but he wouldn't be getting a grip of my fine arse any time soon if he kept on that track. The fact that his eyes were pretty much glued to my tits all the time we were talking made him easier to manipulate. I know its one of those things most guys would sell their left testicle to have, but speaking from experience, it's not as fantastic as everyone makes out. If it's two guys with me, I feel a bit like a pin cushion, and it plays hell with my natural rhythm, if you get my drift. The only time I've done it with another female, I spent most of the time avoiding being the spare, holding balls...

Anyway. I made it clear that's off the menu for tonight, and he grudgingly agreed. When Eff came back from the loo, she shrugged and went off to find easier meat, I suppose.

We were running out of booze and drugs, so I knew it was important that I staked my claim early. Naomi and Emily were having a staring competition, sort of the equivalent of 'no, _you_ put the phone down' , which I knew wouldn't end up with any actual shagging tonight despite the drugs. I know my sister,and she's a way off properly forgiving the blonde. No, she's more likely to tease the fuck out of her for a few more weeks before giving in and fluffing the flange again. Jo was hanging round Effy's body, placing hot kisses on the back of her neck, so I guess that's the rooms and twos sorted for tonight. I let Cook perv on them two getting nearer to an x rated cabaret, before dragging him off to his room to do the business.

Honestly, I think the size thing is definitely overrated. OK, he wasn't bad, but I've had better. That lifeguard on Newquay beach last summer was way better in the sack. Cook is all action, I'll give him that, but if I have to grab his balls one more time at the firing point, I think I'll self destruct. He got me off, but I had to give him a bit of help in the geography department. Jesus, its 2013, right. Clitoris isn't a small African Republic, previously unexplored is it?

I politely declined his offer of a replay, though judging by his drooping eyelids, it wasn't a serious suggestion and padded barefoot down the corridor to the mess for a cold drink. And stop that, my throat was _dry_ right...nothing more. When I got there, the stink of old booze and sweat was still in the air, bottles and glasses littered the table and floor together with at least some clothing. I didn't recognise any of Emily's stuff, so I wasn't surprised when I walked back past her room with my glass of water and saw her head on her own pillow, just the sound of slow regular breathing. No sign of a body crouching under the covers, so I guess Naomi was having to rely on battery power for satisfaction tonight.

I glanced into our room, but thankfully the action seemed to have stopped. Effy and Jo were in bed, spooning, and asleep. I avoided taking any deep breaths as I ducked out, I wanted to keep my water down.

Thankfully, with plenty of rooms available, it was easy just to find an empty one and unroll the mattress and grab a pillow from the wardrobe. I dropped my clothes onto the floor and settled on the bed with a happy sigh. Operation Cookie complete, a whole lot of inhibitions and stress discarded and life seemed to be just a tiny bit better. I closed my eyes and drifted off.

XXX

In the deserted and silent comms room, a thin crackling voice is heard coming from the wall mounted microphone outside.

" _Hello?...Can anyone help me...Is anyone inside this place... **please**. They're after me. Oh God, please can someone help me?...I can hear them coming. They want to hurt me... Oh, Jesus..." _


	8. Chapter 8

Naomi

Fuck. I never do drugs. Well not since I was at uni anyway, so it's come as a bit of a shock to realise how unprepared I am for the aftermath of 2 lines of MDMA and about half a bottle of neat vodka. I had that small moment, waking up, when your eyes open but grim reality hasn't kicked in yet and I almost smiled to myself. Emily and I had had sex, right? OK not the sort of sex I really wanted with her, but the glorious taste of her sweet mouth and the feel of those fingers moving inside me and...Oh _fuck_ , NOW I remember...

At the moment my memory cleared, my hangover pounced. A bolt of pain shot through my head like a 7.62 round. MDMA, vodka and the knowledge that despite our fast and frantic vertical shag, things were definitely _not_ alright in the Emily department converged and I collapsed back onto the pillow. My treacherous wrist watch glowed 08.45 at me from the bedside table. Jesus, I was late, and this morning was supposed to be my turn to get up first. Cook and Jo would be spitting blood. But hang on? If I was already an hour late getting my arse into gear, where were they?

I tried again, and this time managed to get sitting up at least. I fumbled in the drawer next to the bed and found what I was looking for under some tissues and a photo of Emily she had given me when we were actually talking. _Paramol_. The giver of life in these situations. Fuck normal pain killers, these babies were the street bosses of paracetamol. I swallowed three, with a gulp of warm water which almost made me gag. I knew that inside 10 minutes I would be OK.

I made it to the bathroom, and stood with my head under a shower head, icy cold water battered my face and neck, but it worked. By the time I had washed myself and pulled on some joggers a sweatshirt and trainers, I was on the way to feeling normal again, Well as normal as I was ever going to get without Emily Fitch in my life. Because she certainly wasn't in it if last night was anything to go by. Despite Katies attempts to get a party atmosphere going, Emily and I didn't speak to each other all night. I tried, but she made an excuse every time and walked away from me. Even the chemicals rushing round my system didn't give me the courage to push it with her. I let her ignore me...well that's not entirely true. I caught her looking at me multiple times, but each time I stared back she dropped her head and found something fascinating about her fingers to look at. It was infuriating, especially as I definitely saw Cook going off with Katie, no doubt for a protracted shag,and Eff and Jo sloping off just after, wrapped round each other. Everyone was getting some. But I wasn't, and Emily showed no signs of warming up towards me, despite our mutual life saving yesterday. There was a time when saving someone's life would have guaranteed a whole lot of grateful sex, but I suppose she had no reason to think differently about me, after the stunt I pulled with Cook, even if I did save her arse from turning into lion sized lite bites.

So I just sighed a bit as I passed her shut door, and looked in on Effy and Katie's room. No sign of Katie, but there were two sleeping heads in Effys bed. Someone got lucky then?

I passed Cooks door, and it too was shut. Jesus, is everyone having a post shag nap then? I didn't open Emily's door when I passed, I was too much of a coward, but as I got to the mess, I saw Katie standing at the hob, humming to herself as she boiled some water in a small saucepan. Wonders will never cease, I thought, Katie Fitch up with the lark...

"Morning" I said, chirpier than I felt.

"Morning, loser " she answered, less cuttingly than I expected "I'm doing eggs, want some?"

I had to sit down before I fell down, the world had obviously moved on its axis, she was being pleasant to me.

"Err, yeah...thanks" I said "Two, hard boiled, if you're offering"

She hummed again tunelessly, and picked up two more eggs from the metal basket next to the sink. Then she turned and looked at me as I sat there rubbing my temples, trying to encourage the Paramol's to work. I looked up as she regarded me with an amused stare.

"Ace stuff, wasn't it?" she smiled thinly "I don't know when we'll get any more of that sort of quality. Bit of a shortage of drug dealers, nowadays eh?"

I nodded "Do you always feel this cheerful after a night on drugs and neat vodka Katie?" I said quietly.

"Yep. Don't do hangovers, me. Vodka, good MDMA and a nice long screw, always makes me cheerful in the morning" She grinned nastily. She knew exactly what effect _that_ statement would have on me.

"You and Cook?" I said stupidly

"Well unless one of the women has grown a sizeable dick overnight, I'd say that's a pretty good assumption, lezzer" she smirked. "Anyway, you'd know all about his big old todger, wouldn't you Naoms...you and him being regular fuck buddies and all?"

I grimaced and stayed silent. No point in fuelling her malice. I thought it was too good to be true. The eggs were just bait then...

"OK Katie" I said finally, when the silence went on too long " I deserve that. Can we leave it now, I think I'd like to let my hangover kill me slowly, if you don't mind"

"Sure" she said happily "Everything rosy in the Naomi and Emily garden today then?"

"No" I said unhappily "But then you know that already. Why are you so horrible to me?"

"Because I love her more than you ever can. You hurt her, now she doesn't want you any more. Deal with it Naomi...Oh, and how do you want your eggs again, babes?"

I stood up quickly, wishing I hadn't as the room swayed around me.

"Forget the eggs Katiekins" I said nastily "I don't want to add food poisoning to my list of ailments. I'm going to check the CCTV. If Cook or Jo surface any time soon, let them know where I am?"

"Anything for you hun" she smirked and I barely suppressed an impulse to throttle her slowly over her fucking boiled eggs "You know I only have your interests at heart"

I stalked out, feeling marginally worse than I did going in, despite the miraculous effects of the Paramols.

I reached the comms room and switched on the audio recording from last night. I scanned the perimeter with the directional cameras, but nothing stirred. Just a few birds settling on branches and a small fox cub nosing around the brush for voles and stuff. As I opened a warm can of lemonade which someone had left on the side last night, I used the remote video periscope to check all the corners in case of ambush. We did this every morning, but I was being particularly careful today, partly because of my late start, but mainly because we had been holed up in here since early yesterday evening, and our minds hadn't exactly been on the job overnight.

I almost missed it. Just a small grey bundle. Not where I expected trouble to come from. The approaches to the bunker were clear, and no wheel tracks or footprints marred the deliberately powdery asphalt pathway either. No birds were scattering, no animals scurrying away fro something big, something threatening. Just this small bundle of what looked like clothing...on the _roof_?

I increased the magnification and studied the bundle closely. I wasn't too scared yet. It wasn't moving, and it wasn't obviously a bomb or anything. Not that any IED would be likely to penetrate in here anyway. It may look like a small cottage from the outside, but the reinforced concrete walls and steel rods supporting the structure were designed to survive much worse. I was more curious really. Then I saw a foot sticking out of the bundle, and my heart rate increased ten fold. It was a person, well, maybe a body. But what was it doing on our fucking roof, curled around the fake TV aerial?

Time for some serious questions to be asked, I thought, and, with one last sweep of the clearing, to make sure our 'body' hadn't got any friends in the immediate area, I jogged quickly down the corridor and woke Cook and Jo.

Their mumbled resentment at being woken was soon replaced by trained-in battle ready reaction. In seconds, both were out of bed and, stopping only to empty a bottle of water over their heads, they armed themselves with pistols and Heckler & Koch close combat semi's and followed me up to the main blast door. The huge steel barrier swung open soundlessly, a testament to the superb work of its builders. Oiled and maintained, it would last a lifetime in perfect working order. We spread out into three separate positions. If there was anyone ready to ambush us, we didn't want to give them a single aiming point. Cook and Jo stood either side of the outer door as I took up position facing it. If a burst of fire greeted me on it opening, only one of us would die this morning. That eventuality would be followed by two heavily armed Special Forces soldiers hammering our attackers with direct and accurate small arms fire. My death wouldn't be in vain anyway. But that wasn't even on my mind at that stage, getting outside to find out what or who had visited us last night was.

I burst out of the door as Jo and Cook covered me. No sound broke the morning air and I breathed again hard. As we fanned out, closing the security door behind us in case of rear attack, we searched with our eyes for anything at all which seemed off. Nothing was. The birds were singing and the bugs buzzing. You'd never know we were exiting a nuclear bunker after a major countrywide attack. Weapons were used to point in any direction danger could come from, but none did.

I silently motioned to Jo that I was going onto the roof. She nodded, and immediately took up station so she could cover me. Cook moved off a small distance and kept us both in sight whilst searching for anything threatening. I dropped my rifle onto the grass silently and tucked my Glock into the rear of my joggers. I shinned up the drain pipe as quietly as I could and within 10 seconds was standing on the flat part of the roof, opposite our visitor. I crept over the fake tiles, careful not to make a sound as I got closer. When I was within three feet, I slid my combat knife from its sheath and held it in front of me, balancing with my arms to get some sort of purchase on the roof. Still no movement from the small shape on the tiles. I crept closer, until I was standing over it. I saw it was a kid, probably not more than 15/16, dark haired, and with ragged and torn clothes. A filthy sweatshirt was worn under a darker grey waistcoat. Joggers on the bottom half, jagged tears in the cloth as if something had been savaging them, and battered old pair of once white Nikes on its feet. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but I knew it was alive, from the rise and fall of its shoulders. Its arms were wrapped round the pole of the aerial like a man shipwrecked hangs on to the mast of his little raft.

I looked back at where Jo stood, covering me with the Heckler and indicated the lack of threat with a gesture. She smiled thinly, but kept the rifle trained on both of us. If our little visitor jumped up and took me surprise, I knew Jo would put a hot burst of 5 rounds into us both if she felt there was any chance of compromising our group safety. I was an important member of this little band, but not so important that she would let me become a bargaining chip. It went with the territory. Once again this morning I felt the chill as I recognised my vulnerability.

I turned back to the prone figure and made my move. Taking the knife in my left hand, I used my right to grip the neck, just as my body dropped onto it. I heard the whoosh of escaping air as I knocked the wind out of the person below me.

I saw a pair of desperate frightened eyes widen as they took in my aggressive appearance. It must have been a shock, one second asleep, the next flattened by a wild eyed woman wielding a wicked looking hunters knife. I heard gasping as the captive tried to suck in air and I lowered my head until it was inches from their ear.

"I won't hurt you if you don't struggle. Who are you, and why are you here?"

It was several seconds whilst the person, who I now saw was just a kid, female, by the small curves I could feel under my body and really really scared, tried to get enough air in her lungs to answer.

"Please don't hurt me" she said shakily ,and I could feel her whole body tremble as she looked at the knife inches from her throat.

"I said I wouldn't" I said harshly "But I need to know who you are and why you're here. What's your name?"

"Arya" she said in a small voice "My names Alison, but everyone calls me Arya"

"So where have you come from Arya?" I said, less coldly " and are there any more of you around?"

She wheezed as she tried to answer that and I realised that I was still pinning her to the tiles. I slackened off my grip just enough for her to catch her breath.

"Just my older brother Jake" she breathed jerkily "But I think they got him last night" Tears welled up in her brown eyes, and I let her compose herself before pulling her to her feet so Jo and Cook could see her and I together.

"Coming down" I said, and pushed the girl in front of me until she could lower herself off the edge. Cook kept her in his sights whilst Jo gripped her arms and held her until I could get down too.

We bundled her into the cottage and I watched her eyes widen as she took in the difference between the prosaic outside and the functional interior.

We more or less ran her down the long blast corridor and into the actual shelter. The big door clanged shut behind us and I relaxed for the first time in long minutes.

Emily. Katie and Effy were in the mess room when we brought in our bedraggled captive. They stood in a small half circle, cupping coffee cups and staring at the group in front of them,

I felt the girl tremble again under this intense scrutiny, and pushed her towards a chair.

"Sit down Arya" I said, more kindly than I felt "I think you need to tell us the whole story now"

Inside ten minutes, we had it all. Her name was Alison Pollard, but her family and friends called her Arya because she was the spitting image of that Stark girl in _Game of Thrones_. She had a brother called Jake who was two years older than her, at 18. They had been in Winchester when the explosions started, and had managed to get out of the city before it was enveloped in flames and more heavy detonations. Since then, they had used the back roads and fields to move ever further south and west. Our educated guesses about the scale of the devastation was pretty accurate, it turned out. London, all of the heart of England, and progressively more provincial centres were first attacked with heavy detonations, then picked clean by starving and ruthless survivors, some burned and wounded terribly from exposure to the initial explosions.

It sounded as if half of England was burning. And it was getting closer. Bristol had been hit, and Exeter too. Whatever was working its way through the country was getting too fucking close for comfort. Our little bolt hole was about to get overrun. The people that had been hunting her were survivors from the Exeter blasts. Headed up by a man called Luke Walters, a brute of man with a penchant for young flesh apparently. Arya said he had picked her out of a group of young girls to be used nightly by him and his henchmen until he was tired of her. Her brother Luke had smuggled her out of the camp before that could happen and they had set off running over 10 miles away, but on the way here, Luke had been captured and she had barely escaped with her life. She had run blindly in the dark for another couple of miles before stumbling across the compound, with its make pretend cottage. Lying up on the roof was the only thing she could think of to keep out of sight.

When she had finished telling us the story, she collapsed in tears. Now I am no sucker for a sob story, but what she said had the ring of truth. I looked at Cook and Jo, and got the nod from the pair of them.

"Arya" I said kindly "Did they get close to here last night. Do you think they realised where you were hiding, or what this place really is?"

She shook her head, bright tears dropping onto her dirty cheeks.

"OK" I said "Emily, would you show Arya where the showers are and try to sort out some clothes for her. She's not much different to you, size wise, so maybe you have something she could wear?"

Emily looked at me steadily as I spoke. I could see her mind working. Half of her wanting to help, the other half not wanting to do me any favours

"Yeah" she said, finally "I can do that Naomi" She put out a hand and Arya gripped it, following Emily as she went off down the corridor.

I sighed as she left. Whatever the situation we were in now, I didn't want her to hate me. I hoped she would forgive me eventually, but it looked like it was going to be a very, very long job. I caught Effy smiling at me in that fucking 'all seeing' way she had and hated it as always.

"Naoms" Cook said brusquely, breaking the staring competition I was having with Katie and Effy "Group meeting after Ems gets back with the kid. We have some decisions to make. Make a run for it now, or find that kids brother, if he's still alive. Oh and then carve this Walters bloke a new arse hole while we're at it"

He grinned humourlessly at me and left the room. I knew Cook in this mood. Crude cocksman he might be most of the time, but the thought of some wanker taking advantage of an under-age girl was guaranteed to make him turn into the nastiest, cruellest bastard in Her Majesties Army. I sighed. Time for Auntie Naoms to put her sensible head on and stop mooning about Emily Fitch for a while...


	9. Chapter 9

Emily

I shouldn't be so sensitive, I know. But everything Naomi says or does nowadays seem to grate on me. I had no problem giving this waif a hand with getting clean, or finding her some clothes to wear, and yeah, fuck it, I have to admit that there isn't anyone else in the group but me who's clothes would even approach fitting her, unless she had a fetish for minuscule thongs and animal print (sometimes at the same time...), but unfair as it may be, I added that request from Naomi to my ' _reasons to dislike you for a bit longer_ ' list.

After ten minutes and a whole lot of soap and scrubbing, the girl came out of the bathroom with a big green fluffy towel wrapped round her and gave me a shy smile. She's very pretty, in a boyish way, but way too young for me to be perving on, so I led her into a spare room and went to get her something to replace the tattered and filthy stuff she turned up in. I put them in a plastic bag for burning. They wouldn't be any use for anything again.

I came back in to see her looking at herself in one of the wall mirrors. Shock was on her face, I suppose it had been a fair while since she'd seen her reflection. She had black shadows under both eyes and a lurid scratch ran across her left cheek from top to bottom. Looked like a cut from a branch, probably when she was running away from whatever pedo monster was after her from Exeter.

"Hey" I said quietly.

She jumped at my voice, but gave me a smile as she turned "Hiya... err, Emily" she said

"It's OK now. No one will hurt you here, or allow anyone else to hurt you. You're safe now" I said kindly.

I saw big tears spring into her brown eyes and she gulped back a sob, before speaking in a low, defeated tone

"But Jake isn't...is he? He's still out there, and that Luke will want to hurt him now"

I couldn't argue with that. I had no idea what her brother was going through right now, even if he _was_ still alive, but considering he had aided his little sister get away from the head man, I guessed it wouldn't be too pleasant.

"Listen" I said firmly "You've been very lucky to find this place. We have three Special Forces soldiers living here with us. If anyone can get your brother back and help you both to get somewhere safe, its Cook, Jo and Naomi" The last name stuck in my throat a bit, but to be fair, she probably was the sharpest of the three, combat skills and intelligence considered, I hadn't forgotten her calmness when faced by a charging animal, so I gave her the credit for that. She might be a two faced cheating bitch...but she was _our_ two faced cheating bitch, I suppose.

The girl nodded uncertainly, but as I handed her my smallest sweat shirt (Queens of the Stone Age would just have to forgive me) and a pair of green jogging bottoms together with a pair of plain white knickers, she brightened up a bit. I turned my back while she slid them on, and after handing her a brush to untangle her short dark hair, she actually scrubbed up quite well. Whoever gave her that nickname Arya was spot on, she did look a lot like that kid from 'Game of Thrones' but I had a feeling Cook at least wasn't going to use it in future. I was so fucking right, it turned out. The chances of him having seen a complicated and long running fantasy adventure TV series was less than zero. Usually his televisual entertainment involved an inflatable ball being kicked up and down a field, or several pneumatic lesbian cheerleaders giving each other oral pleasure on the flimsiest excuse .

Anyway, with an old pair of Katie's Vans on, she looked good enough to meet her public, so I led her back to the comms room, where I knew they would be waiting.

They were obviously in the middle of an argument when we got to the door, so I coughed theatrically when we got within earshot. I didn't want anyone to spill too much until we heard the whole story from little Miss lost and found.

Cook, Naomi and Jo were one side of the scrubbed table, Effy and Katie the other side. Two more canteen chairs were pulled out ready for us. I indicated one with my head and took the other. Arya sat down carefully, looking around her nervously.

"Wow" Cook said, laughing his trademark belly laugh "There _is_ a fucking kid underneath all that dirt then?"

No one laughed with him, but since when did that ever bother him?

"Shut up Cook" Effy said flatly

"Just saying what everyone else is thinking babes" he grinned, totally unfazed by the put down "How d'ya feel now kid, ready for the Spanish Inquisition?"

Arya blinked at him and smiled shyly "Much better thanks Mr Cook, and... err what's the Spanish Inquisition?"

Cook howled at that and banged the table with his meaty hands, scaring the fuck out of our guest and making everyone else wince at his exuberance.

" **Mr** Cook" he said wiping tears from his eyes "I haven't been called that since that fucker Professor Blood expelled me from 6th form college"

He laughed again at his own joke. Arya studied him curiously, as if he was a particularly strange specimen under a microscope. The rest of us just shrugged our collective shoulders and waited for him to calm the fuck down,

"What did you say your name was kiddo?" he said, once he had laughed himself out " _Arsia_?"

She at least had the grace to giggle at his deliberate mispronunciation.

"Its Arya" she said, batting her over-long eyelashes at him. It worked. Apparently Cook had a direct neural link between female eye lash batting and his groin, even if the batterer _was_ under-age...

He shook his head finally, in a way that emphasised his decision.

"Naah" he said. "Thats too poncy by far for a half pint like you. He grinned in that fake malicious way he had when he was planning something crafty.

"I think _Harry_ suits you better"

"Thats a boys name" she said primly, and it just made Cook laugh more at his own lame humour. I must confess I had to hide a grin at her horror at the new name.

"Right" he said, suddenly all business "Harry it is then little 'un" He regarded the rest of us with an impassive face, suddenly not the joker any more.

"OK guys. We need a plan, and we need it fast. Either they find us, or we find them. I think I prefer the last option. Men like that are hoovering up everything stealable and rapeable in what's left of the country. We deal with them now, or we deal with them later when they have more recruits...and victims to their name. What do you say?"

I don't think the decision was ever in doubt. One look at 'Harry' and we all knew that it could be one of us next. Maybe the gang hunting her would think twice about taking on Jo or Naomi, but the rest of us females would be easy meat, even with the little bit of gun training we had. It had to be us going to them, and it had to be now. A row of nodding heads greeted Cook's stare.

Ten minutes later, we had the OS map of Cornwall spread out on the table between us and 'Harry' was pointing out some local landmarks and the route she remembered taking last night. It was Jo who spotted an obvious likely hole up place which the hunting gang might use, and we agreed that a party of 5 would go out to take the initiative against them. Unfortunately, that meant one of us had to stay with our little visitor, babysitting... It was me of course. Naomi had the good sense to keep quiet when they were debating who would stay. My plea to ride shotgun (literally) with Cook fell on deaf ears.

Jo said " Listen Emily. We need to put the place in safe hands, in case you get visitors while we are away. You have a working knowledge of the comms system, which Katie doesn't" (great, I thought. _I_ get punished for actually listening when Cook gave us all instructions on emergency broadcasts and SOS messages, nice one Katie) "Effy has some medical training, although she apparently preferred using the drugs cabinet for her personal stash, rather than for the good of her patients" (Effy groaned at that. We all knew she had blown out of first year medical school by now, but I guess she didn't know that Jo knew why) "So all in all, you _are_ the best person to man the fort while we are away, OK?"

What could I say, fucking logic beats emotion every time, huh?

Half an hour after that, with the uniforms dressed to kill, literally, and my sister and Eff armed with short barrel assault rifles and side arms, they crammed into the Landie and the engine gunned into life. Just then Naomi jumped from the drivers seat and walked around to where I was standing with Harry.

"Emily" she said "Can I just have a private word before we go?"

I shrugged "OK, if you feel you have to" I said curtly "Although what is it that you think can't wait until you come back?"

I saw pain cross her face, and I regretted for a second being so cold towards her, but forgiveness was a long way off yet for me. I wanted to nurse my anger a while longer.

She pulled my arm until I was behind the truck and gripped both my hands in hers.

" I fucked up Emily" she said sadly "I fucked up so bad, I don't know if you will ever be able to forgive me."

Again I shrugged. Who said I had to make this easy on her?

"But know this" she said urgently "If anything goes wrong, and I don't come back, please remember that I never wanted to hurt you. I was stupid and thoughtless, Emily Fitch, but I like you a lot more than I ever thought was possible and I think you liked me too, before I acted like a complete arsehole. Can you find it in your heart to at least wish me luck?"

I stared at her hard. What did she mean not come back? Then it hit me like a man with a spade. I had spent so much time believing in her invincibility, it hadn't crossed my mind that something might actually happen to her out there. My anger at her cringed in the presence of my sudden and overwhelming fear that she would get killed, still thinking I hated her. Time to fix this now, I thought, before its too late to fix anything.

I gripped her hands in mine and returned her squeeze.

"Don't you _dare_ go getting killed on me Campbell" I growled "I have plans to be angry with you for at least a month yet... and we've not even _started_ on the penances you'll have to do to make me like you again"

I smiled at her, for the first time in what seemed like years.

"Come back safe Naomi" I said finally "Just come _back_ , right?"

She nodded and smiled quickly as the horn in the cab blew loudly. Cook bellowed something out of the window and I grinned too.

"Come here" I said, gripping her lapels in my hands. I kissed her slowly and deeply, letting her lips remind me just what I had been missing. She sighed softly as I pulled away.

"For **that** , I will just _have_ to come back Miss Fitch" she grinned widely "We have some unfinished business now..."

I let her go and watched her get back into the drivers seat, to a chorus of whistles and cat calls from her travelling companions. Harry looked up at me as I walked back to where she stood and grinned cheekily.

"Oh" she said quietly as we turned from the dust cloud thrown up by the rear wheels of the Landie " You and Naomi...like are a couple, yeah"

I looked down at her face. There was no sign of criticism or bigotry on her face, she was just curious.

"Sort of..." I said and grinned back "Sort of..."

We watched the dark Land Rover disappear down the track and into the trees.

"Come on Harry" I said " We need to lock up now. When the main part of the group is away, I'm afraid we have to batten down the hatches. Have another look up at the sky, it could be tomorrow before you see the sun again"

She held onto my hand, which I thought was sweet as we walked into the mock up cottage and locked the outer door. Five minutes later we were inside the main shelter, behind the blast door, watching the monitors, although we knew it might be 8 or 9 hours before they got back.

XXX

6 Hours later

It was Harry who spotted them first. She jumped up and pointed to the monitors. A dust cloud was swirling over the trees and seconds later the Land Rover came hurtling up the dirt path, across the tarmac approach and skidded to a halt feet from the entrance. By that time we were already running flat out towards the blast door. I opened it and we ran franticly up to the inner security door. As I unbolted and pulled it open I could see they had already come into the outer room. Cook was limping, and there was blood on his sleeve. Effy and Katie were holding an unconscious Naomi between them by her shoulders. She had blood all over the side of her head and her eyes rolled upwards. Another great splash of blood covered her upper shoulder and I could see some dripping off her fingertips. She looked in a bad way and my heart banged in my chest as I grabbed her by the waist and held her.

I was babbling some stupid shit about "I fucking _told_ you not to get hurt you stupid cow" but Katie grabbed me and shouted in my face to sort me out.

"No time for that Emily" she yelled "We need to get her down to sick bay, like now. Effy says she will probably be OK, it looks much worse than it is.."

I didn't believe a word of it, but looked pointedly at Cook, as he stood there grimacing at the pain.

"Cook" I said grimly. "Get fucking Jo in here. We need a hand, like **NOW**!"

He looked back at me as if I was mad and exchanged looks with Katie and Effy.

Effy laid a calming hand on my arm as I stared at them all.

"Emily" she said in a small, sad voice "Jo didn't make it, babe...she's... dead"

XXX


	10. Chapter 10

Emily

Effys announcement about Jo was still ringing in my ears, but it wasn't till we had Naomi on a gurney in the sick bay and were cutting her clothes off that it really registered. Jo, dead? It seemed surreal. She was the hard case, the tough Aussie with the best training of all of them, what with her own regiment added to the tough integration course she had done with our guys in Hereford. Even Cook had, admittedly when pissed, conceded that the Aussie Special Forces were every bit as tough as ours. How could she possibly be dead?

We stripped Naomi of her blood soaked uniform whilst Katie treated Cooks twisted ankle with a refrigerator cooled bandage and some Paramol. His slight flesh wound to the hand was no more than a sticking plaster job, so as soon as he was sitting up on the other bed, legs swinging off the floor, I started in on him, earning a stern look from both Katie and Effy, but I was past caring. Once we got Naomi down to her briefs and bra, I could see that the shoulder wound was from a shotgun. About a dozen black pellet holes surrounded by red and swollen skin. Once we cleaned them up, and Effy had used some surgical tweezers to remove the shot, I passed her some neat alcohol, a tube of antiseptic salve and a clean white bandage. That was the minor wound sorted. Her head wound was the real worry, and I knew that because since she had been carried down to this room, she hadn't opened her eyes or even flinched slightly when the shot was extracted pellet by pellet. I was concerned, and by the looks of Effy and Katie, so were they.

"OK Cook" I said coldly "Let's have it. Why the fuck did a group of fucking part time farmers get the better of you three? Jo's dead, Naomi's out of it, and you look like you got the worst end of a street mugging. Come on Soldier Sam, what the **fuck** happened?"

I knew it wasn't fair, and to give Cook credit, he never made the obvious comment about me knowing absolutely fuck all about combat. Just sighed and looked at his feet. I saw with surprise that there were tears in his eyes.

"It's OK" he said as Effy started to interrupt. "She has a right to be pissed off with us. Three fucking ' _super soldiers_ ' and we got our arses whipped by that bunch of part time warriors"

This time Effy did interrupt, looking at me with hard eyes as she did.

"First, Emily" she said coldly "Cook is wrong, _n_ _o_ one got their arses whipped. It was twelve onto four out there, and we left exactly twelve fresh corpses for the crows to enjoy. They were waiting for us. Secondly, this is hardly the time or place for a debrief. Your 'girlfriend' has a depressed fracture of the skull I think, and everyone who went on this rescue mission is pretty much fucked and exhausted, OK?"

I swallowed hard. Maybe this wasn't the time to take out my anger at Naomi's wounds on everyone else.

"Sorry Eff" I said quietly "You're right. I'm just worried about Naomi"

"We all are hun" she said, taking the bass out of her voice. " Lets get on with treating her as best we can, and I'll give you the details as we go on, OK?"

I nodded silently. Time for me to shut the fuck up and listen, I thought.

She took a pair of scissors and gently cut the hair away from the side of Naomi's head, pausing to mop clotted blood away and apply disinfectant as she did. Soon there was a 3 inch circle of pink scalp showing, just above Naomi's left ear. She looked so helpless and vulnerable lying there, her body bruised and bloodied, and those intense blue eyes closed. I stifled a sob which came out of nowhere to embarrass me. It was so unfair, I had punished her for days and I didn't want this to be my last impression of her.

Effy then probed gently round the small depression, testing for something, I suppose. She let out a long sigh, and I looked at her quickly. Was it bad news? She looked up at each of us in turn and smiled tightly.

"Well, its definitely a shallow depressed fracture, but until I find out if there's bleeding underneath, we won't know how bad it is. Depressed fractures can be treatable, but if she needs surgery, I'm not the one to do it. She's been out cold for the past hour now, so that's not a particularly good sign, kids. However, she's young, super fit and sometimes these sort of wounds look worse than they are. I'm no combat surgeon, but I think its a bit of a wait and see now"

She gently pulled Naomi's head round until she was lying back on the pillow. She opened her eyes in turn with her fingers and used a small torch on her eyes.

"Both pupils are reacting. Thats a good sign" she said "If one of them was dilated or fixed, I would be more worried. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Rest and obs is all we can do at the moment. She hasn't lost any significant blood, so we'll just rig up some fluids, and wait and see, OK?"

It was very far from fucking OK, but what else could I say? My medical experience was limited to watching Holby City and reruns of ER on cable, so what the fuck could I offer Naomi?

Effy pulled a clean sheet over Naomi's unconscious form and turned to me.

"OK, Emily. Lets talk about what happened. Cook, feel free to interrupt if I leave anything out, right?"

Cook nodded silently.

"We tracked them to a smallholding on a hill in the area we thought they would be in, about ten miles from here. When we got there, we could see with binoculars that 'Harry's' brother wasn't anywhere to be seen. There was a ten foot square wooden shed with a chicken coop next to it, and about five men sitting or standing around it. There were weapons, but they were all shotguns, and they were standing against the wall. One of the men had a handgun, but it was in his waistband. As we started to talk about making a move, another guy came out of the shed with a girl. I'm guessing this was this Walters fuckpig. I suppose the kid was 14 or 15, thin with long blonde hair"

Harry gasped as Effy said that and choked out "It's Ellie...she was... _is_ my friend"

Effy gave Harry a sad smile and carried on.

"She was naked to the waist and the big guy was leading her out on a dog collar and chain.

I saw Cooks jaw work as his face twisted in remembered rage.

Effy went on.

"I was just about to turn to Jo to ask if they were in range of our shotguns, but she had gone. I saw her skirting the hedge to the side of the shed and knew she'd lost it. She was going to kill someone very soon, and we had no time to hatch anything more complicated than a frontal assault"

Cooks voice sounded hoarse and bitter as he took up the story.

"Rule number one for a special forces soldier, fuck ANY soldier – don't get mad, get fuckin' even", he said in a monotone " We should have stood off and slotted the arse-wipes one by one at a distance. Their popguns would have been useless against proper assault rifles"

"Jo got mad and careless, and so she got killed" he rasped "Naomi and I raised our weapons straight away and took out four of the five men with body shots. They all went down" he grimaced as he adjusted his damaged leg "High velocity rounds aren't just about the bullet, kids. Its the kinetic energy, you see. The tissue that's displaced by the entry wound is only the start of it. It goes _in_ as a 7.62 mm round, but when it exits the other side, you can put your fist into the fucking hole. They were all dead men from the time they got hit"

He paused to drink cold water from the plastic cup Katie had brought over to him.

"By the time I lowered my weapon to check who was still standing, Jo was right onto the others. She took out the other guy with a head shot from her 9mm. But the 'dog walker' was quicker on the uptake than the rest. He shot the captive girl in the head with his side arm without taking his eyes off Jo….sorry 'Arry... I fucking knew what was going to happen, but I couldn't do a thing about it. Jo was running at him, about 15 feet away, I suppose, but he was cool, the fucking rapist bastard. He took aim and put one in Jo's body and then one in her head. Like a fucking pro. She never had a chance. Dead before she hit the floor"

I swallowed hard and looked at Katie and Effy in turn. Did I ask the obvious question? Fuck it, someone had to...

"Did you get him Cook?" I said hoarsely

"Oh we got him, princess" he said grimly "I squeezed off a round and hit him in the shin. He went down like a sack of spuds, screaming like a fox cub and we legged it over and reached him in a few seconds, then Naomi put another round into his gun hand, just to make sure he wouldn't be killing any more children. He seemed to lose interest in murder after that"

He gulped another mouthful of water before going on.

"Just then I heard another volley of shots. Another group of guys came out of the trees behind us and started shooting. Fucking amateur stuff, but they got lucky. One 12 bore round hit Naomi in the shoulder and the force of it spun her round and smashed her head against a fence post. She went down straight away. I turned and let off a fast burst. Then Effs and Katiekins here came to the rescue. I heard them blasting away from the trees too, and they hit another two bad guys before I managed to rake the others with a long burst knocking them over like skittles. Lucky I did, my clip was fucking empty then. I dragged my 9mm out of my pocket and went over to finish them for good. Just as I did that, another carrot crunching cunt came out of the long grass and let off both barrels at me. Lucky for me he was a lousy shot, just this..." He raised his wounded hand "But _very_ fucking unlucky for him. I put three rounds into him at point blank range. He's gonna spend the rest of eternity looking up into the sky for Jesus"

Cook chuckled throatily, but there was no humour in it.

"So Jo was dead, Naomi was badly hurt, and I managed to twist my fucking ankle in a rabbit hole running back to the rapist gang leader. Clumsy fucker that I am"

I smiled at Cook "You have other attributes Cook. We'll overlook your Mr Bean impressions"

He grinned at me cheekily. I was relieved and kinda glad that 'our' Cook was still in there somewhere.

"So... our child murdering ringleader?" I said, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Dead by now" Cook and Effy said together. I saw Katie shudder as she stood there and guessed his passing wasn't designed to be peaceful. Cook chuckled again. It wasn't a nice sound.

"We left him blinded, hamstrung and with his shrivelled dick nicely out on show for the wildlife, tied spread-eagled to four short posts in the ground. If the foxes don't get him before nightfall, the crows will have some fun playing Woody Woodpecker on his cock and balls. I'm guessing he might last an hour or so...if he's extremely unlucky"

Cook laughed thinly, and I saw that underneath his cheeky boy exterior, there was a cold killer. I made a mental note never to piss him off any more than was necessary.

We ended the debrief then. Katie and Effy went to shower, so did Cook. I was left with Harry and Naomi. Then it hit me, what about her brother? The whole reason for going on this crazy mission

She saw my look and must have guessed my thoughts.

"He wasn't with them Emily" she said sadly "Either he got away, or Walters killed him last night. Her eyes filled with big tears and I reached out and wrapped my arms round her. We shared a mutual comfort hug. Where was my dad with his Fitch hugs when you needed him...?

XXX

And so my vigil over Naomi began...


	11. Chapter 11

Emily

They say the first 24 hours of someone being in a coma are the worst. Well, let me tell you, they aren't. The first day, I spent most of the time sitting or lying next to the hospital bed Naomi was sleeping on. She continued to breathe in and out steadily, and if you didn't know better, you would think she was really just asleep. Effy came in and out, hooking Naomi up to a drip and checking her vital signs. Each time she would smile at me encouragingly, but by the time every one else went to bed, I could see the strain in her face trying to keep the charade going. She checked the wound for signs of swelling or blood, but nothing showed. She checked Naomi's eyes for any change, but nothing there either. Temperature and pulse were fine, she said. We just need to be patient. The body is probably healing itself, she also said, but I saw the lie behind her big blue eyes on that one immediately. She was as worried as I was.

I woke up later with my head resting on the bed, still sitting on the chair. I was busting for a pee, and after checking that Naomi was still out cold and breathing normally, I dashed to the toilets to relieve myself and splash some water on my face and hands. When I got back, Effy was by the bed, a small frown on her face. I entered the room silently, and could hear her muttering under her breath.

"You need to wake up now Naoms" she said sadly "This is getting really serious . I can't operate on you, I don't have the skills. I only did one year at med school, remember? Before I took the Ketamine Road and single-handedly wiped out a months supply of mind altering drugs?"

She sighed and took Naomi's hand in hers, kissing it gently. I felt the tears start to form in my eyes again, If Effy was getting really worried, I was on the verge of desperate. I hardly knew this girl really, but in the short time we had been 'together' I had started to believe that it was more than just lust that bound us. It wasn't fair that she would suffer like this, when none of us had a clue how to help her.

I choked back a sob, and Effy started, dropping Naomi's hand back on the bed guiltily.

"It's not a problem, you caring about her Eff" I said sadly "I know you're worried too. Just be honest with me...what are her chances...really?"

She looked at me for a long moment and sighed again.

"Getting slimmer, Emily" she said finally "She should really have woken up by now. If there is a bleed on the brain, even a little one, it puts pressure on the skull and more dangerously, the brain tissue underneath. Gradually she will get weaker, and if it affects something vital, she could go into shock and die. It's that serious"

"C..can't we do something...I mean _anything_ at all Effy?" I said brokenly "I know you don't know how to operate on her or anything, but just sitting here and watching her die by inches isn't an option surely. She is so important to me...to us"

Effy looked at me levelly and said in a low voice.

"The only thing I can try is really, _really_ risky. I have no experience at all of this kind of injury. For fucks sake I was only allowed to stand next to the Consultant most of the time and watch when he did his rounds. As an F1, you are the lowest of the low. Fucking cannon fodder they called us. What if I do it, and she dies anyway? You would hate me for it, and I would hate myself"

"What else is there Eff?" I said "We have to try _something_. I would never hate you for trying to save her life. Without it, what the actual fuck? We'll just be sitting here until she takes her last breath, and I don't think I could stand that" I sobbed then, no more pretence about being strong. I think that was the first time I let myself accept I might be falling in love with the blonde girl lying on that starched bed.

"Please?" I said, choking back bitter tears.

Again Effy looked at me and then back at Naomi. She shrugged her shoulders and almost whispered the next words.

"OK Emily. But first we need to speak to Cook and the others. We are so vulnerable here, just the 5 of us, and they may not agree to risking Naomi's life in my hands whilst she still looks so normal, lying there. They may want us to wait"

"Get them" I said sharply "Get them here, Effy. We're running out of time, aren't we?"

She nodded, and immediately left the room. In five minutes we were all there, surrounding her bed like mourners. I hated the way they all looked at her, then... at _me_ , as if they were mentally saying goodbye to her.

"Don't fucking _look_ at her like that" I said fiercely "She's going to live. She's going to live and kick some serious arse when she finds out how we were thinking about giving up on her"

"No ones saying goodbye Emily" Katie said quietly "If Effy thinks there is a chance to save her life, then let's go for it"

I smiled at my twin, silently thanking her for the support. Cook, Harry and Effy looked pale but nodded their approval.

"Right" Effy said, suddenly coming over all efficient and Greys Anatomy on us "Emily, lets get her into the operating room. Cook, get those overhead theatre lights on. Katie, I need some instruments sterilised. Boil lots of water and drop these things in it for at least three minutes, then line them up next to the op table OK?" She indicated a theatre pack of wicked looking shiny metal tools.

From being all passive and accepting, the atmosphere had changed to action. Although the knot in my stomach was tightening at the prospect of seeing Effy operate on Naomi, I felt marginally better than I had ten minutes ago. If we lost her on the table, I would never feel the same again, but if we let her just slip away without trying, I would feel worse, hard as it was to imagine how that could be.

Fifteen minutes later, Naomi was under a green sheet, with her head turned to one side, exposing the small depression in her head. Effy had prepared a shot of local anaesthetic, and given it to her. Although she was unconscious, and probably wouldn't feel anything during the procedure, Effy didn't want her coming round and thrashing about mid operation.

She began by using a scalpel to cut gently and carefully in a horseshoe shape around the penny sized dip. Blood immediately began to flow, and she asked me to mop it up with the batch of sterile wipes she had given me. I did so, telling myself that although I didn't like the sight of blood, I had to fucking hold it together for Naomi. I heard Katie gag behind me, but steeled myself to be brave. We needed to be strong for her, like she had been for us time after time.

Pulling back the fleshy flap, she revealed the depression in the skull. It was tiny, no more than half the size it looked when the skin covered it, and no more than a millimetre or two deep,. I watched Effy's eyes move to my face over her surgical mask and they crinkled in a smile. This was good, I thought. Its less severe than she thought. She took a small instrument, a bit like a tiny bathroom suction pump, with a rubber end and gently placed it over the small dent. Taking a deep breath, she then clicked a lever to the side of the instruments handle, and I was reminded of the windscreen suction pad on my satnav. Not that anyone had any use for satnavs any more... One twist of the handle and I heard a small plop. She reversed her movement, and pulled the instrument free. The tiny dip in the skull was gone. The piece of bone had returned to its position. Effy let out a deep breath, and I realised, as I struggled for breath too, that we had all been holding our breath at the same time. There were still no signs of Naomi regaining consciousness, but she looked no worse, and that had to mean something, didn't it?

Effy stitched up the small head wound neatly and covered the side of Naomi's head with a clean dressing. She told us that someone would need to be with Naomi all the time from now until, or if she woke up (We all ignored the _if_ bit). We couldn't risk her coming round and disturbing the wound. I volunteered immediately, but Effy said no. I was tired and hadn't eaten in 24 hours. Someone else would have to do it until I had at least had 6 hours sleep and a good meal inside me. Katie then surprised the hell out of me, by volunteering to take the first shift. She and Naomi hadn't exactly been close, but I guess that was another way of her showing me that she had my back, even if she didn't approve of my 'lezzer choices'.

So I reluctantly went back to my room and, after a short but very welcome hot shower, fell onto my bed and slept instantly. When I woke, my clock said it was after 6 in the evening, so I jumped up, instantly guilty that I had slept way over my 6 hours. I splashed water on my face and ran quickly down to the sick bay. Katie was gone, but Cook was there with her. I stifled my instant reaction of rage, seeing him holding her hand, remembering how those hands must have felt a lot more of her body recently, but seeing his face blew away those jealous thoughts. He looked so sad, just staring at her sleeping face. I realised that it wasn't just me who would miss her if anything happened. He might be a cold killer out there, but in here, now, he was someone who was hoping against hope that his best friend survived. He looked up quickly when I walked to the bed and smiled.

"You look much better, little Red" he said "Sleep and food?"

I shook my head "Sleep yes, but I kinda forgot the food bit" My stomach rumbled right on cue and he laughed quietly, which for him must have been a real effort.

"OK kid" he grinned "One of Cookies special burgers coming right up?"

I grinned back, despite my mind screaming at me about thinking of food when she was just lying there.

"That sounds great Cook. Thanks for sitting with her. Any change?"

His face clouded and he shook his head

"Not so far kid" he sighed "But Effy says her colour is better and every other vital sign is in the green. We just have to be with her and hope"

"Right" I said "My shift then...you said something about a burger...or two?"

He laughed again, a bit louder, a bit more Cook this time.

"Chef's onto it Red...all the trimmings?" I nodded.

He left still chuckling and I sat in his place, gripping Naomi's hand in mine. Her skin was cool, but her breathing was regular and Effy was right, she did look slightly better, more sleeping than unconscious, if that makes sense.

Effy came in after Cook had delivered his two enormous beef burgers, complete with onions, sliced tomatoes and floppy cheese squares. I ate them voraciously, one after the other. I don't think any food I have ever had since has tasted so good. Effy laughed quietly as she watched me dabbing grease from my lip and chewing the last morsel.

"I take it you've got your appetite back, Fitch" she grinned

"I'll have you know I have a healthy fascination with food for a girl my age" I paraphrased my pervy little brother, then remembered he was a rotting corpse, along with my parents and everyone I had ever known before this. I swallowed the last small piece more slowly. Suddenly I was less cheerful about life.

Effy checked Naomi over thoroughly again, and stood afterwards, regarding her sleeping patient.

"No sign of a bleed. Her eyes are reacting normally and her pulse, blood pressure and respiration are fine. She seems to be as well as I could have hoped for, considering my half arsed horse doctoring.

"Eff" I said, looking up at her "I want you to know that I am really grateful for al you've done. Putting yourself on the line like that. Whatever happens to Naoms, we all know you've given her a fighting chance. Thank you"

She rested her hand on my shoulder and I put my hand over hers. Her fingers were cold and smooth and I hoped she was looking after herself. No point rescuing Naomi, only to fall ill too. She gripped my shoulder and dipped her head until she could whisper in my ear.

"Talk to her Emily. Just talk to her. She may not be able to hear you, but there's a chance she might recognise your voice"

"About what?" I said stupidly.

"Anything at all. It's just the sound of your voice. Tell her that you love her, that your world won't be any good without her"

I stared up at Effy, who was regarding me with those spooky ninja eyes.

"L...love her?" I said

"Yeah...love her. Because you do, don't you, despite the punishment detail you have had her on these past few days?"

I swallowed and blinked under the scrutiny of those uber perceptive eyes.

"I...I think I might" I said finally. At last admitting what I suppose had been obvious to everyone else for ages.

"Then tell her" she said simply and left us.

XXX

It had been over 4 hours and I was just about exhausting my solo filibuster. I had told her about my upbringing, my constant battles with my mum and sister. The fact that I had had to block the bathroom keyhole with toilet paper to stop my little brother spying on Katie and I in the shower and occasionally wanking into our stolen knickers. I told her about Bristol middle school and my lame attempts to fit in by agreeing to several double dates with my sister. I made myself laugh by recounting the time Katie had persuaded me to go out with a kid from Roundview College when she fancied his mate. The trip to the park and my horror at turning round from the front seat of the car they were taking us home in to find her swallowing his hard on in the back seat. I giggled when I told Naomi that I had no idea Katie even _played_ an instrument, let alone a pink trombone...

I told her about my coming out to my parents. The first kiss I shared with Linda Rigby in year 13, my pathetic crush on my (straight) art teacher, my first proper lover Rachel, when I was 15, and my several aborted trials at being part of a stable couple. I got sad when I remembered Emma and Sophie and Sarah. Love affairs which never really went anywhere. Either they were bi, and eventually went back to cock, or played games with me, tearing my poor heart in two when they left me. I had never really been lucky in love, and now look at me. 'In love' with a Special Forces soldier with serious commitment issues and a predilection for getting herself badly hurt. Life's a fucker, isn't it?

My mouth was dry, and I ducked out of the room briefly to get a can from the fridge in the mess. The icy cola bit into my throat and refreshed me quickly.

"OK then Naoms" I said brightly, when I got back "One last story, and then I have to sleep. Don't worry, I have a bed right over there, next to the door. When you wake up, just call my name and I'll be right here"

"Right" I began "The sexual exploration of Emily Fitch" I looked at her hard, making sure she wasn't coming round. I was only brave enough to say this once, and I didn't want her to actually remember anything when she did wake up.

"I'll skip over the few times I gave in to peer pressure and tossed off schoolboys in the backs of cars and behind sheds. That was Katie's forte, not mine. I just went along with it for a quiet life. I found that giving them a quick hand pump was easier than fighting off their octopus arms half the night. If I had a penny for every pair of ruined trousers... Anyway, it was disgusting and pointless. I never liked boys and I liked dick even less. Nasty throbbing, spitting things...Yuk"

I looked at her again, but her eyes were still closed and she was breathing evenly.

"So...there was this girl Rachel..." My mind started to wander and I looked up at the ceiling...

 _November, School dance at Bristol Academy for Girls._

 _The night was shit and getting shittier. Katie had disappeared with a 6th former ages ago, and I didn't want to think what position she was in currently. Obviously horizontal, although Katie was well versed in the against the wall shag position. God knows I had had to endure more than one mental image over the years..._

 _The music was techno pap mixed with Kanye West and Tinie Tempah. Not my style at all. I was more of a Foo Fighters and Linkin Park girl, even then. I stared around the hall, watching the successful pullers pairing off with their victims steadily. The line of hopefuls and never been kissed girls over here was getting thinner. Fucks sake, it was like being last picked for basketball teams. I usually got left to the end then too, but then being 5'2" was at least an excuse. Not like now. I turned my head when a skinny kid from my year eyed me hopefully. He had acne which made him look like a meat feast pizza, and I wasn't about to have **that** slobbering over me. No way._

 _I was about to give up and walk home when a voice spoke softly in my ear. I froze in shock. It couldn't be. It was. Rachel Jenkins._

 _She was tall, slim but with spectacular tits. Not that I had noticed every day and twice Thursdays of course. She was in the year above me, and very popular. She spoke with a lovely Welsh lilt and had big blue eyes and long wavy brown hair. Tonight I had seen her fight off the attentions of at least a dozen potential suitors, but she blew them all out. I had never actually seen her with a guy, come to think of it, but being as popular as she was, she never seemed to get any stick about it. Unlike me with my fucking sister adding to the lezzer jibes whenever she could._

" _Hi...it;s Emily, isn't it?" she said, and I caught an intoxicating scent of Vera Wang perfume. Jesus, I thought, I could just inhale that all night..._

" _Err...yeah. Rachel, right?" I stammered, making myself look an even bigger tit than I already felt._

" _Not much talent here tonight" she said, fixing me with those big blues "Fancy getting out of here?"_

 _Fancy it? my fucking knickers were wet just from smelling her. The thought of actually spending any face time with her was mind blowing._

" _Sure" I said, more confidently than I felt "Where?"_

" _My parents are away for the weekend, and I'm **pretty** sure I know where my dad has hidden the key to the drinks cabinet" She arched her eyebrow and I think I fell in love. Fuck me, she was gorgeous._

 _XXX_

 _Cut to a nice three bed semi detached house about half a mile from mine. A quick call to my mum to say I was staying over at a girl friends house was enough to keep my parents happy and there we were, sitting in our party dresses on the lounge carpet, backs to the couch, making serious inroads on daddies vodka. I didn't really drink in those days, so a couple of over-large doubles was enough to reduce me to hot flushes and inappropriate giggles. To be honest, if the evening had ended with just funny stories and a night on her couch I would have been happy. She was amazing company, funny, flirtatious and warm._

 _We sat together with our arms and legs touching. At first I was nervous about being so close to her. She was popular and a year above me, like I said. This was not how things were supposed to be in the rigid social protocols of school. I should be at home with my physics book, while she should be necking some jock now, shouldn't she?_

 _When she kissed me, I almost passed out in shock. We had been laughing about one of the teachers, who had thin wispy hair which he brushed over his head in a vain attempt at pretending he was hirsute. She laughed prettily as I mocked him, and then I noticed her face was very very close to mine all of a sudden. I could smell the Vera Wang again, this time mixed with alcohol and my world spun for a second. One instant she was looking at me strangely, the next her soft lips were on mine. Her hand came up and cupped my cheek and I was lost. I had only kissed one girl before, but this was nothing like that juvenile attempt. This was a proper kiss. Soft, demanding and long. So long, when we parted I actually gasped for breath._

" _Are you OK Emily?" she whispered, staring at me as I panted slowly._

" _Oh yeah" I said, desperate for her not to stop "I'm really, **really** OK"_

 _She smiled then, and then her lips covered mine again. This time I remembered to breathe through my nose and the kiss went on for minutes. I accepted her probing tongue and moaned quietly when she gripped my shoulders with her hands. I remember thinking I could do this all night. My brain was singing with sensations I had never known existed._

 _She stopped then and I remember her breath was coming in shuddering gasps too. It wasn't just me getting overexcited then, I thought._

" _Emily..." she said, suddenly serious "Have you ever...?"_

 _I froze for a moment. Did she mean...that?_

" _No, I've never...but I want to...if you do Rachel"_

" _Oh yeah" she sighed "I really **really** want to" mimicking my earlier comment._

 _I had no idea how to react to that. After all this time, when my sexual experiences had been restricted to a whole lot of self abuse and a couple of less than memorable heterosexual fumbles, this attractive, sexy girl wanted me. My limbs seemed to vibrate as she pulled me to my feet and led me to her bedroom._

 _I watched her with eyes heavy with lust as she slowly stripped for me. Watching her take off that pretty white cotton and lace bra and knickers was the single most erotic moment of my life. She laid on the bed expectantly, and suddenly I wasn't so sure any more. I was a year younger than her. My tits were like bee stings and I had very little...you know... hair down there. I wasn't sure I was up to public stripping yet. She seemed to understand and averted her eyes as I took off my clothes. She held up the quilt as I slipped under it and we faced each other across the double bed..._

 _I'd like to say that I was assured and expert in my loving, but that wouldn't be true. It was clumsy, hesitant and wonderful all at once. I suppose if this was a porn story, it would be full of extravagant 69's and strap ons, but neither of us were that far advanced. We kissed, we moaned into each others mouths and we explored each others bodies all night. And I mean all night. After she had fingered me into an orgasm, I returned the favour. I had no idea what worked best, but as she writhed under my probing fingers and I felt her hot slickness and her need, I learned fast. I kissed her mouth as she climaxed and felt an overwhelming sense of pride that I had made this beautiful girl come so hard. She went down on me after we got our breath back, and I laid there, my face showing total disbelief that anyone would **do** that. I hadn't yet explored the wonders of the internet and oral sex as far as I was concerned then was talking about it..._

 _Of course, once her tongue had done its work and I felt the incredible sensations that sucking lips on my clit and two straight fingers inside me could produce, I had to try it. She tasted amazing. Like the sea, different and exotic. I revelled in her moans and scrabbling hands in my hair. I licked her through one orgasm and straight up to the next. I used my tongue in every way I could think of. In and out, flat and lapping, curling and circling, probing. You name it, I tried it. I knew at that moment, when she screamed out my name and thrust her hips up to meet my mouth that this was something I could do well. Fuck A level History . Emily Fitch was born to give women pleasure with her tongue...a star was born, you could say._

 _By the time dawn broke over the city, we were dozing happily, wrapped round each other and lazily running fingers up and down arms and bodies. I felt so relaxed, so different to the way I normally woke up, fighting Katie for the bathroom and trying to avoid letting James see me shaving my legs with my dads Gillette Fusion..._

 _Life intruded of course. Eventually after one last frantic fuck we parted on the stairs. I went back to Fitch Towers to face the inevitable third degree from Katie and Mama Fitch. Rachel went back to being Rachel. We met up a few times after, but soon she went away to college, and I got my heart broken as usual. Situation normal._

XXX

"And so there you are Naoms" I said tiredly. Remembering all that had brought home the fact that all those friends and lovers were now dead "Good job you're not awake. I think you could charge a fee for the therapeutic consultation" I laughed, but not with much humour..

I gripped her hand and made to stand up. I needed another drink after all that talking.

As my fingers started to pull free from hers I thought I was imagining things. Her fingers tugged at mine. I froze and stared at her silently. Was she...

Her eyes fluttered and eventually opened. She stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, then croaked "D...drink?"

I grabbed my warm cola and tipped a small amount into her mouth. She swallowed once, then her hand came up and grabbed at the can. I had to wrestle it out of her hand.

"Naoms" I said, still struggling to get the can free "Not this...we have water...wait"

She struggled to sit upright and I nearly fell trying to keep her lying down.

"No Naomi" I said firmly "You've been out of it for days. You need to keep still. Your head"

She reached up with trembling fingers and gently felt the dressing on her head.

"Oh" she said simply and let me lay her back down. I gave her a few sips of cold water and she smiled weakly at me.

"You're going to be fine" I said hopefully "The worst is over Naoms. I have to go get Effy. She saved your life"

She blinked at me again and spoke in a voice slightly steadier than before.

"OK" she said "Oh, and Emily...?"

I turned from the door and looked back

"This Rachel sounds like a bit of a goer...when can I meet her?"

I ran before I could slap her around the head and undo the good work Effy had done...Bitch !

XXX


	12. Chapter 12

Emily

After the flurry of activity which followed Naomi regaining consciousness, we gathered in the comms room, because Cook had an announcement.

He had been monitoring outside activity for a while, when I was holding Naomi's hand and opening my heart to her, and he had some news.

"OK girls" he boomed "We have some information about what's happening in the fucking big wide world. Sit down and I'll try to piece it together for you"

We all sat in a circle around him, and listened.

"I've managed to contact a group like ours in Scotland. They were part of a training stick that got detached on manoeuvres, but they had state of the art battlefield comms. First they knew about the hit was when they saw the whole of Faslane disappear into the upper atmosphere from the other side of Scotland" (He explained that Faslane was the nuclear submarine base for the whole UK). "Luckily for them, the mountains were between them and the bombs and the wind was westerly, so they managed to scoot further east and avoid any fall out"

He grimaced as he stood up on his twisted ankle.

"Basically, this country is fucked. They think it all started with the crazy North Koreans. Apparently the mad slant eyed fuckers fired two nukes off simultaneously, one at Guam, one at South Korea. The US one levelled the US Navy base, and the Korean one hit the centre of Seoul. At the same time, some crazy bastards in their military launched a low yield nuke artillery shell at some Russian base in Siberia. The end result of all that fuckery was about 8 million dead people and Defcon 1 for the rest of the world. America launched on North Korea AND Beijing, thinking it was them. China retaliated and for good measure hit the good old UK as well. The fucking Russians sat it out for a while, then launched one multi megaton nuke at Pyong Yang, just to be sociable. Trouble is, after that, things got a bit out of control. Turns out the President of the US was in Seoul at a veterans fund raiser. Together with his family and 3 Secretaries of State. The North Koreans hit the jackpot. After an initial strike by any two countries, there's supposed to be a bit of a built in pause, while whoever is left alive calms everyone else the fuck down. Then after a few days, the US, British and Russian subs surface. If they get told everything is getting back to some sort of normality, they go back down and wait another week, before coming back up. Stops any further escalation. The point is, there wasn't anyone left in control to tell them to hit the off switch, so they did what they were programmed to do. Systematically level everything on their target list. And that meant that our vodka sipping friends got an early Christmas present, about 360 megatons of hydrogen warheads. Which also meant the Russians and Chinese launched a second strike, at the UK, the US, Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all.

He paused to drink some cold water from a plastic cup..

"And all that children, means one thing. It's not over, even now. The Russians and to a limited extent, the Chinese are still lobbing the odd warhead at us. By now of course, they haven't much to aim at any more, which means they are getting... creative... in their targeting. Word is they are going to just lob the fuckers over here at anything and everything, dots on a map, really. Things are going to get mighty hot on the mainland. We need to come up with an evac plan, as soon as"

It took a few seconds for us to digest that.

Katie piped up first, inevitably.

"So Cookie" she said "Tell me why it isn't a good idea to just stay here until it all finishes. Surely a nuclear bunker is about as safe as it gets?"

Cook looked at her and smiled humourlessly.

"Normally I would agree with you there, dinky tits. But this isn't normal, by any stretch of the imagination. For a start, they might hit us anyway, either by design or simple bad luck. Second, even if we could stay here for the duration, what the fuck will there be left to go out to, when its all over? The whole of the UK mainland will be an irradiated desert, with no animals, crops or sunlight. Some of that nuclear dust is in the upper atmosphere now and although we've been lucky so far, if they start launching ground burst instead of air burst weapons, half the countryside will be blown up into the air around us. Unless you plan on being down here for the next 100 years kiddo, we'll be fucked. Much as I like the idea of spending eternity giving you the benefit of my considerable experience, Katiekins, it isn't a goer."

He shook his head sadly.

"Naah. Our best bet is to take the initiative. Head off to the coast and take a boat out to somewhere like the Scilly Isles or Sark or some other small island. We need a natural barrier, and water is as good as any. Now, I ask again, can any of you fuckers drive a boat?"

He got the same answer as he had before. Not only did none of us have any idea how to pilot a boat, we didn't even know what sort of boat we needed. Naomi was going to need at least a week to get back on her feet, and even then, she wouldn't be fit for anything other than gentle exercise for a good while. The rest of us were OK, but 4 girls and a single soldier weren't going to be much opposition to any determined roaming gangs. The fact that one bunch of half arsed amateur warriors had reduced our fighting complement to one in a single fire fight didn't exactly inspire confidence. I could feel the atmosphere in the room chill as Cooks' words sank in.

It was Effy who spoke next. The weak and trembling ex addict of weeks ago was turning into our little voice of reason, and I for one was fucking grateful about that.

"OK" she said in a determined voice "So we need a plan. I suggest we spend the next few days getting ready to leave. Foraging is not an option now we are down to the one real soldier. Lets get our stockpile of food ready for whatever trip we go on. Emily, in between mopping Naomi's brow and taking far too long over her bed baths, can you check the medical supplies? We need painkillers, antibiotics, bandages, field pack morphine, the works. There are some big back packs in the drug room, stuff them with everything you think will be useful"

I nodded. This was no time to be worrying about lesbian digs, irritating as they were.

"Katie?" she stared at my twin "Can you do an inventory of the canned and dried food? We're going to need enough for... say... a 14 day trip. That's assuming we can find an unoccupied place with a harbour within a hundred miles and steal a boat. ... _What_ sort of fucking boat do we need Cook?"

She looked at our remaining professional soldier.

"Fucked if I know princess, just something big enough to get us over to an island, preferably with a big fuck off motor, so we can drive it in a straight line. I haven't a fucking clue about sailing. Should have joined the fucking SBS I s'pose, not the Regiment, but its always packed full of cocky Marines, so that wasn't ever an option. Sorry"

"No problem" Effy said "We'll figure it out as we go along. Don't they say that a plan never survives first contact with the enemy Cook?"

He laughed at that "Fucking hell Eff, never had you down for a military student. You'll be quoting Sun Tzu next"

None of us had a fucking clue what that meant, so we let it pass.

"What can I do Cook?" Harry piped up "Everyone else has a task, so what's mine?"

"A very important one half pint" he smiled at her "Now, more than ever we need keen eyes and constant monitoring of the outside. You can be our eyes on the world out there. Keep watching for any approaching danger, use the cameras and the remote audio devices. We need to be ready to go at a moments notice. I'm going to go out now and find us another vehicle. One for the stores and spare kit. I'll take Katie, if that's alright?" he said, looking hopefully at my sister.

"Just as long as you know I'm not there for eye candy Cook" she bristled "Treat me with some fucking respect huh?" Her eyebrow arched in that KFF way we all knew and loved so well.

"Understood" Cook chuckled "Just remember the gear stick is long, with a red knob on top. No stroking it..."

She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at humour and walked away, towards the blast door.

Within moments, we were all off on our tasks. Effy did another check on Naomi, who was sleeping again. I started packing medical supplies from the big metal cabinets into the canvas back packs Effy pointed out to me. She gave me a list to work from, and within half an hour we were loaded and ready.

Two hours later, Katie came back, driving a battered Mercedes Sprinter white panel van, I laughed out loud as she fastidiously got down from the scruffy cab and scowled at Cook.

"I though we were going to get something classy Cook, like a Range Rover or Infiniti... Why the fuck do we need a delivery van?"

"No need for refinement babes" he laughed "We need a load lugger, and this ugly bastard will do just fine. Remember we might need to haul arse quickly. This baby can be loaded and left ready to go at a moments notice"

She shrugged and walked inside, her nose at its default angle, pointing at the ceiling.

Minor strop over, we settled into a routine. Foraging being impossible now that we were two fighters down, we started thinking about our supplies. Instead of using what we felt like eating without worrying too much about replacing it, Cook insisted that we ate the fresh stuff first. Chickens, ham, legs of lamb, fresh vegetables and fruit were used up. We had no way of storing them on a trip safely, so we pigged out a bit. Effy said that building up a bit of body fat was essential if we had to travel a long way without fresh food. We would be relying on the tinned stuff more and more, so we indulged ourselves for what might be the last time.

Ten days passed. Naomi got stronger. Her dressing was reduced to a small covering over her ear, and after a day or so wobbling about in a wheelchair, at Effy's insistence, she finally growled at me to get the fuck away from her as I tried to sit her in it. I looked at her, hurt, but she winked as she stood on her feet.

"No more wheelchairs Ems" she said "Time I got back on my feet. Mind you, I think my first job is a fucking shower, I smell like a pair of Cooks yomping socks"

"Fine" I said, folding my arms and daring her to walk away "But you know what that means, don't you Campbell?"

"What" she frowned

"Someone is going to have to supervise that shower. We don't want you falling and knocking what little remains between your ears out, do we?"

I grinned at her and licked my lips suggestively.

"Oh" she said simply "Oh well, I suppose if its _absolutely_ necessary Nurse Fitch" She bit her bottom lip, which did entirely inappropriate things to my stomach.

"Off with those things" I said briskly. "I'll get the water running.

When I came back, she was down to her briefs, the hospital gown she had been wearing since the uniform was cut off her didn't hide much anyway. I smirked at her lame attempt to shield her tits from my eyes.

"Too late Campbell" I grinned "I've seen all you have to offer already. Your body's not that special hun"

"Fuck off Fitch" she giggled "You've been wanting to get me naked and wet ever since you pointed that camera at me in Mousehole"

"Hmm" I pretended to ponder, finger on my chin "I've seen you naked lots of times over the past week, and if I recall, you were _plenty_ wet the time we had our little post Leo the lion encounter.

We both stared at each other after those words had left my lips. I remembered how she had moaned and shook and how her body had clenched around my thrusting fingers. How I had just wanted to say fuck it and let her have me in the same way. The atmosphere in the cool room suddenly got warmer.

"If I'm right" she said quietly " I never _did_ pay you back for taking advantage of me that day Miss Fitch"

I swallowed hard. How did this shower idea suddenly get way out of control?

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea Naomi" I said hoarsely "You're still weak... and too much excitement might..."

She took a step towards me and closed my lips with her finger.

"Far too much talking and not enough action Emily" she breathed "I need that shower...like _now_...are you going to help me or not?"

Watching her beautiful arse sway out of the door in those tight white knickers wasn't doing my blood pressure any good at all. As she turned to walk towards the showers, she winked and let me have a good look at her naked bouncing tits. Fuck it, I thought, if she has a relapse, I'll just have to nurse her back to health again.

Two minutes later, my clothes were on the floor outside the cubicle. There were no shower curtains, so I just had to hope no one came to check up on us any time soon, otherwise quite a few lesbian fantasies would be realised, depending on who the voyeur was. The room was filled with steam and she was standing under the stream of hot water, just looking at me as I dropped my knickers onto the pile. She smirked as I stepped inside and handed me a jumbo bar of Dove soap.

"I believe you said I needed a hand Emily" she grinned "But I think you might need both"

Fifteen minutes later, two very clean, very water wrinkled women exited the shower block. I had made good and sure every inch of her was clean. I suppose you could argue that it wasn't absolutely necessary for me to do quite so much exploring with my tongue, but her jibe about Rachel and my boasting about oral skills to her as she lay unconscious, was paid back in spades. Watching her lean against the shower wall, wailing as I licked her clit rapidly and slid three fingers in and out was a real turn on. I was keenly aware of the fact that she was only a few days out of a serious injury, but you know what they say about endorphins being good for the human condition? I think I can safely say that two orgasms did her the world of good. She made to kneel to return the favour, but I thought that would be a little too much in her delicate condition. I settled for a long and teasing finger fuck, just looking into her eyes as she got me off spectacularly against the shower wall. A few "I love you's" may have slipped out there, I can't remember, but it didn't seem to interrupt her rhythm much.

Ten minutes later we were back in her room, dressed and trying to appear normal, when Effy came back. Fat chance of course. Her ninja skills were intact.

"The _'just fucked_ ' look suits you both, girls" she smiled "Although you may want to lose the dopey post orgasmic smiles before the rest of the gang see you. Cook will howl at the moon and ask for photographic evidence. Katie will roll her eyes and pretend she isn't even a _little_ bit curious about how good muff munching is, and Harry will look puzzled and probably check the library out for teenage lesbian fiction"

"What about you Eff?" I said sharply "If I remember, you're not immune to the power of the pussy either" Then I mentally kicked myself several times, as a pained look crossed her face. Of course, _Jo_...

I went to apologise, but she waved me off.

"Not a problem Emily" she said tightly "That was then, this is now. Maybe I can persuade your sister that second prize is sometimes as good as winning the gold"

"Eww!" I said scowling "Now I have a totally unwanted mental image to erase, Stonem. Thanks for that"

Naomi smirked beside me and added her contribution to the teasing.

"Twins..." she breathed, making like a kerb crawler "Now that's a fantasy any healthy lesbian would have trouble turning down"

"Fuck **OFF** Campbell!" I yelled "That's never, _ever_ going to happen, so take your mind out of your underwear this instant"

Naomi shrugged and winked at Effy "Oh well Eff" she grinned "We'll have to file that one away for … _solitary_ moments"

Effy laughed out loud.

I laughed too then, this was getting bloody ridiculous. They were fucking ganging up on me. Bitches.

"OK, enough" I said "Get back into bed Campbell, and keep your grubby porno daydreams to yourself, otherwise you won't be getting any more of _this_ fine Fitch arse any more, let _alone_ the complete set"

I walked away to their chuckles. I wasn't really offended. But a twin thing? _**Never**_ gonna happen, It made my skin crawl, just thinking about it.

XXX


	13. Chapter 13

Naomi

Well that was interesting. Two weeks being cooped up inside with just the odd bit of Emily loving to brighten my days. I've never been much good at just doing nothing. From the time I started school, I was the annoying child who asked too many questions, who read every book on whatever subject I was being taught and then verbally fenced with the teacher until I got busted out or suspended. _I_ was the teenager who passed her exams, but continually challenged every concept I was faced with. I. Was. That. Kid.. My poor mum must have thought she had found Superman's brat, abandoned by the aliens because it asked too many fucking questions. So my restless mind was eventually matched to a restless body. When I left college, all my friends were determined to go off to uni and shag the world, one fresher at a time . I wanted to make a real difference, and when this strange suited guy collared me after a particularly torrid lecture and asked if I had ever considered a career in the Civil Service, I laughed in his face.

Civil Service? Sitting at a terminal with all the other clones, clicking a mouse and waiting for the clock to hit 5.30. Not a fucking chance mate. I said.

Actually, he said, I was thinking more of field job. Field job, I thought? Did he mean meadows and butterflies? Turned out he was looking for recruits for the fucking Army. I think that was taking the Civil Service umbrella a bit far, yeah? In the end, we had a chat, I went to an anonymous office block in Whitehall and...well, just lets say two years later, I was a junior officer in the Intelligence Corp. Or the Green Slime, if you want the nickname other squaddies refer to us as. Sort of spooks with uniforms. I had been sent to several 'hot spots' over the next couple of years, Moscow, Baghdad, Central America, Mexico. Places where I could exercise the skills I had gained in that Bedford hell hole called 'special training'. Physical as well as intellectual training. I was taught to fight, both with and without weapons, infiltrate tight knit organisations, (not _always_ the enemy type) , and make snap judgements which may or may not result in deaths, ours and theirs. Basically, we were part of a small section, known as the 'Caretakers' because we cleaned up other peoples shit. Sometimes living, breathing human shit.

Taking that 10 day leave to sort out Effy's problems with illegal substances was a purely personal move. But it meant that, unlike all my friends and fellow spooks, I was about 250 miles away from the shit when it hit the fan. Which was pretty lucky. Not that I felt particularly lucky at the moment I got shot. My head hurt like fuck a lot of the time, Effy took out the stitches three days after I woke up, but I felt like I had the worst sort of tequila hangover for another 2 days straight. I was building up resistance to the high dose dihydrocodeine, so I asked Effy to back it off. I had seen enough drug dependence in my time. Enough not to want to join _that_ happy band.

So here I was, upright and mobile, with just a small patch of half grown hair over my left ear and the occasional night time migraine. Emily had been with me virtually non stop since I woke up on that gurney. It was getting so I couldn't function properly unless a certain brunette with chocolate eyes smiled at me and said "Good morning gorgeous" with that husky, early morning tone. Jesus, what ever happened to 'Fuck you Campbell' as I was known at the unit? Is this is what love does to you. It was more scary than any hairy arsed Iraqi with a preference for explosive waistcoats had ever been.

It looked like Effy and Cook had the place buzzing anyway. To see Katie Fucking Fitch obeying orders without question and getting her hands dirty loading stores was pretty amazing, I can tell you. Harry was like a little clockwork soldier, into everything, carrying stuff, bringing messages and generally acting like the Duracell bunny on amphetamines. And what can I say about Emily? Apart from the fact that she looked after me like I was the fucking Queen or something? She fed me, she washed me (well, sometimes that washing turned into something _completely_ different) and generally made me feel like I was special. And no one had made me feel special for a very very long time. I was kinda getting used to it. It was nice, you know?

But the honeymoon had to end. Apart from having to put up with the endless Cook lesbian jokes, and the numerous barbs Katie threw my way about not hurting her sister again on pain of immediate death (Jesus, does she ever get fed up with that?), we had bigger things to worry about than whether Emily could find another way of 'amusing' me with various impromptu sexual aids... I'll let your imagination sort that little image out...

Things like, where the fuck were we going next? And would the world end before we even got organised enough to go? My fragile physical condition meant that we were stuck here for at least another week. I was getting OK at dressing myself, washing and eating, but any sort of real exertion made me breathless and dizzy, so I wouldn't be any good as anything more than a passenger for a while yet.

But eventually, things sort of overtook us. Cook got another long update from his friends in the North, and it looked like our window of opportunity was reducing quicker than we hoped. The UK had been hit a few times again, we knew that by the distant flashes in the sky to the north of us, but by all accounts, the remaining population was now reduced mainly to emaciated scavengers, trawling the country for anything edible. We had been very lucky to escape discovery until now. One night, we heard feeble screams coming from a few hundred yards away from us, down by the river. Cook and Effy went out armed with rifles and grenades. They found a group of 5 young men surrounding a woman in her 60's. She was half dead already and stripped of her belongings and tattered clothes by the jackals around her. Cook and Eff took them out with a fragmentation grenade and a few well aimed head shots. They couldn't do anything for the old woman, she was gone by the time they got to her, but it illustrated perfectly our vulnerable position. The men hadn't been armed with anything more lethal than machetes, but they were hungry and desperate enough to have killed anyone who stumbled into their path. It really was time to go.

So we made our move. The white panel van was loaded with as much as we could pack into it. I went with Emily in the Landie, although she insisted on driving. Cook drove the Wrangler pick up with Katie and Effy and Harry took the van. We had a vague plan to reach the coast at Portleven. It had a natural harbour and was likely to have several boats large enough to reach the Scillies, where we had decided to hole up for the time being. When we arrived in the little town, no one was surprised that there weren't any people around. I thought that in the event of something like this happening, people would stay put and hunker down somewhere they felt safe, but something strange had happened. Everywhere we passed was deserted. Not a soul, not a light and not a vehicle. We ended up parking by the quay, next to a pub called the Ship Inn (original or what?) The harbour wall was concrete and steep, but towards the back end of the harbour there were several small motor launches floating at anchor in front of a muddy flat.

They all looked about the same to me, but Cook had enough knowledge, despite his protestations about being a soldier, not a sailor, to spot the only one which would suit us. It was about 50 feet long and had a keel, apparently (Yeah, whatever, that meant it could actually go to sea?). It had a mast, but was powered by a big diesel engine, There was plenty of room on board for all of us. The only trouble was, we had no fucking idea how to drive the pissing thing. The keys were inside the wheelhouse, and I managed to get the engine to start. The whole boat vibrated with a deep rumble and water started to gush out of the on board pump into the silent harbour. The instruments showed it was over ¾ full of fuel and had a full tank of fresh water. OK, so thats the logistics worked out. All we needed was about 200 fucking sea hours experience! Basically we were buggered. Although the sea was flat calm today, and the charts in the overhead locker showed plenty of information on how to get to The Scilly Isles, it was still a fucking dot on the Atlantic, over 36 miles away and in the middle some of the fastest tides around the UK. It was a job for someone experienced, not us. Left to our own devices, we would end up going in circles. shipwrecked or heading for fucking New York, which considering NY would still be glowing luminous green, wasn't a good idea, quite apart from the 3000 mile trip being a _little_ out of our range

"It's a pity my brother isn't here" Harry dead panned "Spent half his life messing around on boats. I bet he could get us there"

"Yeah, well he ain't half pint" Cook said "We need a fucking sailor, and they seem to be an endangered species around here"

Half a day later, we had stored what we thought we would need on the boat and made it our refuge. There were two double cabins and a single, as well as two bunks on either side of the living area/galley. We managed to pull up the anchor, by trial and error, and motored a bit further out towards the harbour mouth. Far enough to be away from the shore and danger, but close enough to be able to lower the little skiff, with it's outboard motor, and drive it to the harbour wall if we needed anything land side. That meant we could sleep easy at night, knowing no one could surprise us, but we were still protected from the sea and weather, if it changed.

Eventually, after another group meeting, it was decided that Cook and Harry would do a bit of exploring, just in case we came across an ancient mariner or something. It was a long shot, but I am fucking glad we did it. Within half an hour, the little skiff was speeding back across the water towards us, with Harry in the bow, grinning like she had won first prize in a survival lottery. When she and Cook scrambled back aboard, she could hardly speak, she was so happy.

"We found something" she gasped, jumping up and down as if possessed. "We _found_ something!"

"Slow down Harry" I said, laughing at her enthusiasm "What did you find?"

Cook took over, because Harry seemed to have lost the power of coherent speech for the moment.

"A message, written on that wall over there" he smiled "And again, on another stone wall on the way in. We must have missed it when we passed"

"W _hat_ fucking message" I said, along with Emily, Effy and Katie. It sounded like we were auditioning for a barber shop quartet.

He sat on the small bench surrounding the inner deck. "A message from a certain Jake Summers" he said "Tell them what it said, Harry"

She beamed at him and spoke in a slightly calmer voice "It said 'Winter is Coming, SW810325. Jake' she said.

We looked at her like she was mad.

"What the actual _fuck_ does that mean?" we all shouted together. I think Ant and Dec would have been proud of our ability to yell in perfect four part harmony.

"Its the OS map reference for Falmouth. And 'Winter is Coming' is from Game of Thrones...its like a saying the Starks have about their lands in Winterfell?"

I was no closer to understanding, and by the puzzled looks around me, I wasn't alone.

"Starks? Winterfell? Have I woken up in a fantasy novel or what" Katie said sharply.

"Mind making some fucking sense, please Harry?" Effy said

Harry took a deep breath and explained.

"Its code for me" she said simply "Arya Stark, remember...Game of Thrones? "

We nodded uncertainly

"Jake knows only I would understand that. He has left a message here, and probably in a lot of other places on the coast. He's in Falmouth, and he's letting me know he's alive. If we can find him, we can get away from the mainland!"

We got it then, and everyone joined in Harry's smiles.

So the plan was hatched. Cook and Arya would go to Falmouth, and try to establish contact with Jake. We would hole up here until they came back. If they got lucky, they could be back inside 24 hours. We refuelled the Wrangler from the jerry cans in the Mercedes, and they set off with a couple of Hecklers and Glocks for protection. It was a risk, we knew. Cook was pretty much our only fully operational soldier, with me still recovering, but Harry would be safe with him, and, sitting a bit offshore in the boat, we would be OK for the time being.

12 hours later, we were sitting in the cabin, lights dimmed and curtains drawn so that no one on shore could see that the boat was occupied. Effy and Katie sat one side of the room, while Emily sat across me with her feet over my lap. A bottle of the finest Highland Park single malt stood half empty on the low table between us. Katie made a grimace as she swallowed another mouthful.

" _Fuck_ Campbell, who said this stuff was wonderful? Tastes like fucking drain cleaner"

"Philistine" I said, smiling at her scowl "Its a 30 year old Islay malt, would have cost the better part of £150 quid a bottle in the days when you could actually go into a shop and buy it. Suck it up Katie, they ain't making any more"

"Well thank fuck for that Campbell" she pouted "Haven't we got any Coke?"

" _Coke_!" I spluttered, sitting up straight, and nearly spilling my drink and Emily at the same time "Fuck's _sake_ Katie, that's one of the finest Scotch single malt whisky's in the world, aged for 30 years in a sherry cask by experts, and prized the world over for its complexity and sheer bloody drinking perfection, and _you_ want to drown it in Coke?"

"Well" she said, and smirked "I prefer my whisky with Coke...sue me"

I shrugged my shoulders, no point in trying to educate THIS Fitch, I thought. Then a wicked thing crossed my mind.

"Anyway Katiekins" I smirked back "If you want to join the _real_ lesbians, you'll need to learn to love whisky and cats...as well as dungarees and sensible shoes"

She spluttered and almost threw up her latest mouthful over me and Emily.

"Who said I wanted to join you beaver buffers, Campbell? I like **cock** , get it?"

This time, my smirk was joined by Emily and Effy. We had Katie on the run, this was too delicious to leave.

"Oh come on Katie baby" Effy smiled "When the cats away, or in this case the Cook...why not try it... I mean... what have you got to lose hun? We're all girls here. I can keep a secret, and I'm sure Emily and Naomi will be souls of discretion"

"Fuck _right_ off Stonem" Katie spat. Just because you're into part time munching muff, doesn't mean its suddenly become compulsory, right?"

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much" Emily chuckled from beside me, spilling some of her whisky on my bare leg. I giggled as she leaned over and licked it off slowly. God, that tongue... I knew what skills she had with it and my stomach clenched at the thought of another night under her naked body.

"And you can fuck off too Emily" Katie frowned "One dyke in the family is enough, thanks all the same"

We all laughed at her discomfort, but Emily was obviously feeling that a bit more Katie teasing was due.

"Oh I don't know Katie..." she grinned "Wasn't it fun with...what's her name...at school? I seem to remember you didn't shut up about it all term...you know, 69 is my favourite number and all that"

Katie blushed, which is something I had never seen her do before.

"Shut up Ems" she hissed "Fucking teenage experiments don't count"

Effy and I exchanged a look immediately and moved in for the kill.

"So Katie... you _have_ experimented then...?" I said slowly

"...And you _obviously_ liked it" Effy finished my sentence.

"So what's the fucking problem sis...Effy's up for it...aren't you Eff?" Emily hiccuped.

At that, Katie stood up quickly, swaying when the effects of the whisky hit her.

"You can all pretty much **fuck** off" she spat "I'm going on deck to get some non lesbian fresh air. You three can spend the rest of the night with your brogues and strap ons, or whatever disgusting activities your filthy minds can make up"

Her nose in the air, she walked quickly away, and up the small wooden steps to the rear deck.

Effy exchanged looks with me and Emily and raised an enquiring eyebrow. Emily look at her, then at me, and winked extravagantly.

"Time for bed Naoms?" she said to me slyly "I feel an early night coming on.

"Hopefully, thats not the only thing that'll be coming" I said lamely. I still wasn't 100% OK with the crude lesbian verbal sparring, but I was getting there.

Effy stood and stretched as Emily and I untangled ourselves and started to walk to the front cabin.

"Have fun, you two" Effy laughed "Don't sink the boat"

We smiled back at her and closed the door behind us, Emily already stripping her tee over her head. My mouth dried at the prospect of having that wonderful body to myself for another whole night. The world may be at an end, but I for one was already in fucking paradise...

XXX

Katie

I had no idea it could be quite so dark outside. I suppose with no power stations, no people to man essential services and the national grid pretty much fucked, I shouldn't be surprised, but I was. The sky was clear and coal black with about a hundred million little pinpoints of light all over. There wasn't a moon tonight, so it was just me up here, and the heavens. It would feel peaceful, but I was still uneasy about what we were about to do. The sound of the sea hitting the breakwaters outside the harbour were unsettling. I had never even been on a boat before, not even one of those big fuckers that go across the Channel. Katie Fitch travels first class or not at all, so my trips to the continent had been in a jet, not a floating tin can. Especially one like this which rolls a little even in the calm water here. I shivered a bit and wished I had brought up a jacket from my cabin, but I wasn't going back down there now. Any minute there would be a totally unwanted soundtrack coming from the front cabin, when Campbell and my sister get into their stride. Jesus, doesn't anyone know the meaning of restraint any more?

And as for that juvenile lesbian teasing just now, well that was a bit unnecessary, no? One experiment when you're 15 doesn't get you a life pass to Groping the Growler club, does it?

"Want some company"

Oh shit, its Effy fucking Stonem. I glared at her, which is like, totally pointless, since you had trouble seeing your hand in front of your face in this inky blackness.

"Not really" I growled in what I hoped was a warning tone.

"Great, then I will" she said, and plonked herself down next to me on the rear seat with a sigh.

"I brought some cold Chablis...care to join me?" she said quietly

Oh well, fuck it, at least it doesn't taste like toilet disinfectant, I thought. Why not?

Half an hour later, I was feeling pleasantly buzzed and she went down and raided our supplies for another bottle. This one was warmish, but I was past making a distinction now, so when she poured me a big glass, I threw it down thirstily.

"So Katiekins" she slurred, and I was uncomfortably aware that she was right up against me now, with her bare thigh pressed against mine. "This experiment... was it fun?"

"Stop it Stonem" I said "It was a long time ago, I realised quickly I preferred cock to fanny and I've never looked back. Case closed. OK?"

"Hmmm" she said "No one said you have to lean one way or the other permanently babes. I mean, I have no problem bouncing on a hard one when the mood takes me...but sometimes, only a woman's... touch will do..?" She put her hand on mine and the hairs on the back of my neck went up like I'd been plugged in.

I took another swig of wine to give myself time to calm the fuck down. She knew what she was doing, pressing up against me and doing the whole Mata Hari thing. I had no intention of being another notch on **her** bedpost.

"Look Eff" I said seriously " I'm not gay and I don't want to..."

Suddenly soft lips were brushing mine and when the _fuck_ did she get so close? My hand froze on the half full glass and I wondered why I don't just get up and walk away. My limbs felt heavy as she ran her tongue across my bottom lip. Fuck , I don't want this, do I?...I thought...

I felt her hand steal the glass from mine and it fell with a gentle thump on the rubber matting under our feet. Both her hands came up and cupped my face. I could smell wine and...something else, something feminine and addictive. If I don't get up now, I knew In never would. I realised. I grabbed her hands in mine and stood up shakily. I didn't recognise my voice when I spoke.

"L...look Effy" I said trembling "This might be a game to you, but I don't think..."

She stopped me by standing up and pushing right up against me. I could feel her small breasts up against mine and my heart thumped wildly in my chest.

"Don't think Katie" she sighed "It makes life so much easier if you don't. Just feel honey...what have you got to be scared of...it's just two people making each other feel good"

Just then I heard a distinctly ecstatic moan coming from the front cabin. Great, I thought, Naomi and Emily are just about to embark on round three...Soundtrack to a seduction anyone?

"I've got to go" I said, and brushed past her, stumbling slightly as I pulled open the cabin door. I found myself sucking in air like a surfacing diver.

Just as the door closed, I heard her say quietly..."Shame... Katie Fitch, we could have had so much fun tonight"

I ran for the safety of my bunk

There is absolutely _no_ truth in the rumour that when I got into bed, I spent the first ten minutes efficiently getting myself off with my fingers. None whatsoever. What sort of woman do you take me for?

XXX


	14. Chapter 14

Emily

Well, that was awkward. The morning after and all that. I got the feeling Naoms and I had been a bit loud last night in the front cabin. Especially with Cook and Harry away, we sort of _went_ for it a bit...

I suppose there are a few positions we left out, but not many. I now know how it feels to have a newly recovered Naomi Campbell fuck me senseless against most of the horizontal, and quite a few vertical surfaces of the boat. I don't think there is a single piece of furniture we didn't christen. The bed was the last to get the Fitch Campbell seal of approval and I think I can safely say, I now know why the number 69 has special significance. I never really got mutual oral sex before. I used to get put off my stride by what was going on...below... I mean, why can't people just do it straight, huh? But Naomi showed me in spades, that in the right hands...or should I say hands and lips, it can be a hell of a ride. I guess all the theme parks in the world are now extinct, but nothing Thorpe Park can offer will give me as much pleasure as a half hour sitting on Naomi's face, that's for sure.

But judging by the looks we have been getting this morning, our 6 hour sexathon wasn't that popular with our shipmates. Katie huffed and puffed as usual, complaining about the 'totally inappropriate lezzer soundtrack' she had been forced to listen to, which to me is normally blah blah Katie wallpaper and worthy of nothing more than a shrug, but Effy too sounded a bit pissed off, which isn't like her. Naomi's comment about Effy needing to ' _get some herself_ ' went down like a bucket of sick, so maybe it was a bit too close to the truth. I caught a look between Eff and Katie which puzzled me. I know we were teasing Katie last night when we were pissed, but no one _seriously_ meant to suggest... Oh **fuck**. Now I see. Effy **does** want to shag my sister! How could I be so blind? I think a sisterly chat is well in order later today. But first to more important matters (after breakfast of course. That's _always_ the most important item on the agenda)

Well that little item was ticked off in quick order. The atmosphere at the breakfast table made sure of that. Katie avoided Effy's eyes at all times, and Eff just sloped off for a fag straight after coffee, so Naoms and I tidied up and got ready for what we hoped was an early return of our happy wanderers.

XXX

It was Effy who heard them first. She whistled urgently down the galley steps at us, and we all climbed up on deck. It was raining slightly, just drizzle, but suddenly you could feel autumn in the air, even if it was still really late summer. I grabbed two thin shower jackets off a peg in the wheelhouse, which although far too big, were OK for me and Naomi. Katie bitched briefly about the fact that she was the only one without anything waterproof to wear, but when Effy arched one eyebrow and said "That's a pity Katiekins, we don't want you getting _wet_ hun, do we?" in that annoying know it all tone we knew and loved, Katie blushed furiously. An event which is so rare, it ranks alongside Jimmy Saville tribute programmes and honest politicians for uniqueness. She muttered something unintelligible under her breath, but then wrapped her arms round herself and kept quiet after that.

I could just hear what sounded like a motorbike in the distance, and then the unmistakeable roar of Cook's Jeep. The diesel throb was as individual as he was. Despite the fact that I retained a generous amount of bitter jealousy towards him for shagging my new girlfriend, I _was_ happy to know he was back. As our only fully fit soldier, we certainly couldn't do without him.

Soon enough Katie squealed, spotting the roof of the Jeep speeding down between the small terraced houses on the opposite side of the river, then it came fully into view as it growled along the harbour wall. Just behind it was a big red Honda XR off road bike with one rider aboard. Inside two minutes the two pulled up abruptly by the jetty and Cook emerged from the Jeep with Harry slightly behind him. I suppose screaming "ahoy there, love boat" was a bit cheesy, but when did that ever stop Cook? He grinned happily at us and waved a lot. Effy jumped down to the tied up skiff beside the boat and soon it was put-putting across the harbour. I couldn't see who was on the motorbike, but judging by the hugs Harry was giving him, it was obviously Jake.

Five minutes later, when they were aboard, we all got a massive bear hug from Cook each, followed by a breathless blow by blow account from Harry of the discovery of Jake in Falmouth. It had apparently taken a while, with quite a few false starts, but it looked like the two siblings were almost telepathically connected, and she had finally found him in a deserted warehouse on the quayside by a process of elimination. He was quite a bit taller than our youngest companion. Dark haired like her, slim and a bit _skater boi_ to look at, actually. He had a ready, open smile, again, like his sister, who by this time was gambolling about around us like an unruly puppy, giving out random hugs to everyone for fuck all.

We shook hands with Jake and introduced ourselves one at a time. Katie did her normal eyelash batting at the sight of a potential stiff prick, and I stole a glance at Effy, who was as usual putting on her 'couldn't give a fuck face' but I did see a flash of what passed for annoyance when Katie held onto Jakes hand a bit too long. I could read the whole situation in a second, unlike Naomi, who gave me a puzzled look of her own when she noticed Effys frown. She nudged me, but I shook my head at her unspoken question. "Later" I mouthed, and she nodded back. I needed a Fitch family conference over this, and now wasn't the time.

After feeding our intrepid travellers and making sure Cook got his three sugar tea, we settled in the big central cabin to discuss our next move. Thank fuck for Jake, because it turned out we would have been in a world of hurt if we had tried to motor to the Scillies without an experienced sailor on board. He told us that the tides and currents were treacherous round the Cornish peninsula, and that landing on the Scilly Islands was one of the most challenging things we could have attempted. There was an easy landfall on one island, but doing it blind, with no seamen on board would have seen us wrecked at best. We looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and thanked Harry yet again for being the most sensible of us all.

Jake said the best time to set off was just after dawn tomorrow. Of course, we had no way of checking weather or sea forecasts, with no radio or coastguard, but his experienced eyes told him that, barring surprises, tomorrow morning looked like being calm.

Calm... yeah right. Have you ever been seasick? When we left the safety of the harbour at first light, below a steel grey overcast sky, it looked simple. The sea looked fine, just a ripple of movement on the surface. Gradually, as we headed out in a straight Westerly direction the boat began to wallow. Not a lot. First a bit of side to side motion, which whilst only a bit unsettling, started to make me regret the muffin I had wolfed for breakfast. Then the boat began to pitch up and down, front to back as we headed into bigger waves. To make things worse, Naomi was absolutely fine. She stood at the bow, like fucking Kate Winslet. I was expecting at least one 'King of the World' but she spared us that. Cook stood beside her, doing his Jack Sparrow impression, 'aharing' and generally fucking about. All he was short of was a parrot and peg leg. . Katie was in the wheelhouse, presumably priming our new recruit for an inevitable trouser unzipping to come, and Effy was scowling at the wheelhouse, like it contained all kinds of unseen horrors. So that left me and Harry, who, true to form was scampering about the boat, tidying up and generally being useful. So just me then, I thought miserably,as the muffin joined the coffee overboard.

You know when you're pissed, and you know you're gonna throw up whatever you do? Well. If that had been it, I would have suffered it gladly. The trouble with seasickness is that doesn't happen once. You feel nauseous, you upchuck, and then...you feel nauseous all over again. Over and fucking _over_. By the time we were five miles off the coast, all I wanted was for someone to give me a bottle of brandy and throw me overboard. Seriously.

Naomi finally realised that I wasn't the happiest crew member of the fucking 'Black Pearl' and half carried me below. Of course we had no seasickness pills. We had left the three vehicles and all the stuff we couldn't stash on board in an abandoned warehouse about half a mile from the harbour. We had no idea if this journey to the Scillies would be permanent, so Cook had insisted that we keep our options open. We still had no clue why all the local population of every place we passed was mysteriously missing, but it stood to reason something sinister was going on...apart from the ending of the known world of course.

She mopped my brow, held out a bucket when I tried unsuccessfully to throw up the lining of my stomach yet again, and spoke soothing words of sympathy, which were not received well, to my shame. I had no idea at that time whether there would ever be a future for any of us in this fucked up country, but if that was how I felt when I was seasick, I could only imagine how I would behave in labour...I felt sorry for her if she ever wanted to be with me in childbirth...

Finally...and I mean finally, because it felt like at least a year and a half since we left the small fishing village which had been our recent home, Jake spun the boat almost on it's axis, (which produced another batch of heaves from yours truly), and slipped in beside the landing pier of a place called New Grimsby on the island of Tresco, which I found out later was the second biggest island in the Scillies. The boat mercifully stopped rolling, and I stopped heaving. Bliss...We were here.

Two hours later, we had done some exploring...again no people. Which considering this place was about as far from the mainland as you could get without hitting New York, was doubly surprising. There was a small grocers, intact and with its door open as if the inhabitants had popped out for a paper, a couple of tourist hotels and a pub, but not much else. Jake told us that the island was only a mile or so wide and a couple long, so it was ideal for what we wanted. A base, a refuge and a relatively safe haven for our motley crew to shelter in.

Turned out it was anything but. But I'll leave those horrors for another time. For the time being anyway, we were happy...Poor fools.

XXX


	15. Chapter 15

**Warning for this chapter...the peace and tranquility is over for a while. Violence, both sexual and otherwise occurs. You know the drill...if you're sensitive, look away now?**

Effy

I suppose it sounded like a good idea at first. Cook and Naomi searched the immediate area thoroughly and pronounced it safe. The hotel in this small port was old and secure, with big metal bars across the ground floor windows, a remnant of the old smuggling days, and walls about two feet thick. They built them to last in those days. We gave Naomi and Emily the fucking honeymoon suite, with its king sized four poster and double windows. Katie was still trying to get Jake to lose his virginity with her, which made me a lot sadder than I thought it would. Shame he decided to share one of the double rooms with Cook, which cramped her style a bit. She flinched when Emily suggested she share with me the only double left, and I politely declined. I couldn't trust myself to see her undressed and not make another aborted attempt at seduction. I guess seeing her sister so happy and open about her affection for Naomi made it more acute. They looked so similar, Katie and Emily, although even a fool could fail to see the obvious differences, but emotionally they were poles apart as well. Emily was calmer, sweeter and more openly affectionate, at least with Naomi. Katie was more guarded and determinedly hereto, although I knew from her reaction on the deck the other night that she wasn't 100% one thing or the other. Trouble is, she had spent 20 years pretending cock was the answer to any question asked of her, and it must be hard to try to change now.

So I moved into one of the singles, as did Cook. Harry moved in with Katie, and we were finally all settled.

XXX

I blame Cook, as usual. I know him and Naomi have been friends since they joined up, but he is still a twat, and never seems to get better. When we had moved in properly, and hidden the boat in a small cove a half mile away, we gathered in the big lounge bar to chat. Of course, Cook was quick to notice that although the cask beer was definitely off by now, the spirits and bottled beer was plentiful and varied. They must have had at least 20 different single malts behind the bar, as well as vodkas, gins and rums. When we looked in the kitchens we found that there were loads of dried foods and tins. Enough, with the fresh stuff we had brought with us, to last a month at least. We decided to do some exploring the next day, and after it got dark, and Emily's stomach settled, she and Naomi cooked up a big joint of beef and added all the trimmings. Roast potatoes, broccoli, Yorkshire pudding and all. Fuck knows how they managed it, but as the generator was fine and the village was supplied by a fresh water spring, we were happy as we could be. Bottles of beer were opened, and within an hour of eating, we were all pleasantly buzzed, sitting around a big dimple topped copper table. I don't really like bitter, but the bottles of Innis and Gunn Edinburgh beer Cook found were potent and tasty. After my third, I was feeling no pain. And neither was anyone else. I suppose that was the problem.

Naomi and Emily were getting soppily fruity with each other, which made Cook whoop and Katie grimace. Jake and Harry smiled a lot and went with the flow. Then Emily made some crack about Katie and me on deck the other night, and the shit hit the fan, big time.

"Shut the fuck **UP** , Emily" Katie blazed, her face flushed with alcohol and indignation "You're the only pissing muff muncher in the family. The bitch fucking tried it on with me and I blanked her, right?"

She turned to Jake and smirked at him slyly

" _Jake_ can tell you about my lack of gayness, can't you...big boy?" she snarked "He certainly ' _rose to the occasion'_ in the wheelhouse on the way over..."

Jake just stuttered something unintelligible and looked with great interest at his bottle. His sister nudged him and grinned, but he was terminally embarrassed.

"Why are you trying so so hard to stay in the closet Katie" I said, stupidly "You weren't exactly struggling too hard when I kissed you the other night"

She jumped to her feet and stood over me, holding the neck of the bottle in a tight grip. I thought for one moment she was going to actually hit me with it. The atmosphere in the lounge cooled dramatically.

"You can fuck off too Stonem" she hissed "I'll never join your fucking lesbo club. Why don't you fuck off upstairs and inject yourself with something?"

I heard Naomi gasp, and she tried unsuccessfully to untangle her legs from Emily.

I felt a small sob trying to escape my throat, but forced it down again.

"Bit below the belt, even for you Katie" I said quietly, but she was on a roll now.

"If I was ever going to go gay, it would be with someone who can at least function like a normal human being, not some lame junkie bitch"

I felt like I had been slapped, and faintly heard Emily starting to say something in the background.

"Katie...don't...that's horrible" she said weakly.

"No, its fine Emily" I said evenly "Katie has something to get off her chest, and I think we should all hear it, don't you?" I stared at her without emotion. "Let's hear it for Cornwall's answer to Katie Price...little miss _bury me in a Y shaped coffin_ "

That did it. She leaned over and cracked me one across the mouth. I tasted blood and saw the fury in her eyes. Whatever I thought I might achieve with this little pocket rocket was gone now, and I felt a wave of sadness come over me unexpectedly. I realised that I actually did like her a lot, but that I obviously disgusted her. It came as a bit of a shock to realise that I could feel that sort of emotion again.

Cook leapt up and hugged Katie from behind instantly. We sometimes forgot that his job was to kill people, and his reaction time was way faster than a normal human being. Katie spat and cursed him, but her little legs were kicking uselessly off the ground, and her anger did her no good.

"Whoa there tiger" he said to the struggling twin in his arms, the worry evident in his eyes. "Lets not get this all bent out of shape. We're a team, right? Us against the world. No point in doing the Chinese a favour and killing each other off over a bit of harmless teasing eh?"

Still Katie struggled, but even she had to give in when he just tightened his grip and held on. Finally she slumped and he released her. I should have known better. I don't know where this anger came from, maybe I was getting a bit close to home, but Katie Fitch was always going to be a slugger. She cracked me again, this time the other side, and my ears rang like a church bell. I'll give her one thing, the girl can punch.

This time there was another body on its feet. Naomi too was a Special Forces soldier, and I was her very best friend. She had slipped away from Emily and when Katie raised her hand to add to my bruises, I saw her arm move in a blur. Katie shrieked when the wrist lock Naomi put in her made her nerves scream. She stood there, one hand in the air trapped by Naomi's grip, her body twisting and her mouth open in a silent scream of pain. The rest of us sat frozen with shock.

"Thats _more_ than enough Katie" Naomi growled dangerously. "Effy is my best friend, and we've seen quite enough of your foul temper tonight"

Katie went to struggle and Naomi made about an inch of upward movement with her hand which resulted in another scream of pain from the other girl.

All I heard was... "Take your fucking hands off my sister, you _cunt_ "

Suddenly I saw another body move rapidly across the lounge. I don't think any of us expected what happened next. At the very second I realised it was Emily, she had already reached Naomi, who definitely wasn't expecting danger from that quarter. She hit Naomi right on the side of the head, over the ear with a open palm, and my friend went down like a sack of potatoes. Her head hit the solid floor with a thump and she laid silent and still. The room was suddenly quiet. Then uproar.

Cook stood between the Fitch twins and me and roared at the top of his voice.

"What the **FUCK** Emily" he screamed "What's _happening_ to us. Look at yourselves. We may well be the only people alive and functioning within a thousand miles, and you're taking lumps out of each other?"

I jumped up and knelt beside Naomi, who was still out. I looked up at Emily with hatred in my eyes.

"Are you two completely mental?" I hissed at Emily "She had fucking concussion not long ago, and you knock her out...your own girlfriend?

"She shouldn't have hurt my sister" Emily said weakly, but the way her eyes desperately searched Naomi's body for signs of life revealed her fear, "We stick up for each other, always"

Just then Naomi stirred, and I breathed a long, grateful sigh of relief. She moved her head dully and tried to sit up. I helped her to do that, and she looked at me for a couple of seconds in utter confusion.

"Did,,,did Emily _hit_ me?" she said groggily. I nodded as the others watched silently.

"So sorry Naomi...I never meant to…." Emily said in a small voice.

Suddenly the alcohol fuelled party was definitely over...

Naomi looked up at her and I held my breath again. I knew that look. The old Naomi was back. This wasn't good. She shook her head slowly and managed to get up onto her feet, rubbing her ear, her hand coming away with blood from inside it. She stared at Emily with a face like granite.

"I guess that's put me in my place Emily" she said evenly "Bit too good to be true, this whole true love thing, isn't it?"

Emily went to walk over to Naomi, tears in her eyes but as we all stood there, Naomi held up her hand to stop her.

" **No** " she said in a hard voice "That's not gonna happen, Emily. Once bitten twice shy and all that. We make choices in life, and we live with the consequences. I get that. It's a twin thing, right?"

"Naomi, please..." Emily tried again, but I knew the answer before Naomi gave it. I had seen her like this before, when she broke up with Emma. The walls were up, and they might never come down this time.

"It's finished Emily" she said "Get the fuck over it" and walked unsteadily upstairs. I knew what she was going to do, but none of us had the courage to follow her.

I blamed myself, of course. If I hadn't drunkenly teased Katie, none of this would have happened. I always seem to fuck it up. When I got to my room I could hear Naomi packing stuff up into her rucksack. I should have talked to her, but I knew she wouldn't listen tonight. Perhaps not any night now. Maybe the best thing would be for me to leave. This wasn't a big island, but there were a few small cottages over on the headland. I made my mind up quickly. Naomi would move into another room, and tomorrow things would be said. I didn't want to hear them. Oh, how I longed for the kiss of my old friend the needle then. A tight band around my arm, the gentle sting of the surgical steel and then sweet oblivion. Pity there wasn't a dealer alive within a thousand miles.

Within half an hour I was packed. I used the back stairs to get out to the fire escape and carefully closed it behind me. I heard muffled voices in the lounge and knew Cook was trying hard to mend fences. The twins, Jake and Harry were with him, I could hear their voices too, and crying, I don't know if it was Katie or Emily, perhaps both. It didn't matter. I was the problem, and the problem was leaving. The night air was damp and slightly chilly. Even this far south of the mainland, the autumn was stretching its muscles. I walked quickly up the long winding road out of the village and towards what I hoped was a sanctuary.

XXX

I didn't hear or see them. Just a pair of strong and sweaty hands around my mouth and throat. A voice hissed into my ears spitefully.

"Oh lovely. What have we here then. Something young and ripe, eh Samuel?"

Another voice answered, breathless and urgent.

"Is it a girl Don?"

"Yeah, a pretty one too. Come on my lover, time to come home with us"

My eyes were wide and staring as I was dragged into a shabby and smelly hut next to the road. I heard the flare of a match and saw a small old fashioned Tilly lamp burst into life. I could see rough wooden beams across the roof and bits of carpet and curtain pinned to the walls, obscuring the windows. The smell of unwashed bodies made my nostrils sting. There were at least two of them. Local, by the sound of their accents. As soon as my mouth was released and I was pushed onto a straw mattress, I started to plead.

"My friends will be looking for me" I started, knowing that was a lie, at least tonight.

"That gives us plenty of time sweetie" The first one grinned, showing black and diseased stumps for teeth. "We've been without any company for weeks, haven't we Samuel?"

The other man nodded. He looked as if he wasn't quite the full ticket.

"Now, are you gonna be nice to us, or are you gonna struggle? Personally, I like it when they struggle. Remember the last one Sam, that postmistresses daughter. She struggled, didn't she?"

The village idiot nodded again, laughing softly to himself, and hugging his waist with big brawny arms. I shivered. This was going to be bad...

XXX

Two hours later I opened one sore sticky eye and looked carefully round the room. Both my captors were asleep. One on the floor, curled like a huge dormouse, the other in a chair by the ledge and braced door. Both snoring wetly. I looked down at myself bleakly. My dress was torn off and on the floor beside the pallet bed. My ripped underwear with it. I had bruises all up my arms, legs and across my stomach. They hadn't been gentle with me. He wasn't kidding when he said he liked them to struggle. I tried not to. Honestly. Even when they both went at me at once. My no doubt spectacular black eye and torn lip testified to my struggling. At first I just submitted. It wasn't the first time I had been fucked roughly. But they had been insatiable. Long weeks without a woman, I suppose. I didn't want to think about what had happened to the other girl, but I reckon it wasn't nice. My wrist was tied with a long leather belt to the hook on the wall over the bed. Think of everything, these islanders, I thought bitterly. My other hand was free. Free to do what they needed me to do, I suppose. I shuddered and tried to block out the images of my shame and my humiliation. It wasn't over. It wasn't even dawn yet, and they weren't finished with this little toy, not by a long way. I swallowed a sob. Crying wasn't about to help me. I needed to stay alive.

Unbelievably, I slept again. Maybe only for a few minutes, maybe longer, who knows? What had woken me? I looked at the floor and then at the door. Both my attackers were still snoring. Storing up energy no doubt for their next rape. I blinked away a tear furiously. No time for tears Effy Stonem. No time...

Then I heard it again. A click. Something metallic, something slick. I racked my brains to remember where I'd heard that sound before. Then it came to me in a rush of memory. It was a gun. More specifically a semi automatic hand gun. I looked round frantically. Please God there were no more of them. I would barely survive another two hours under these two, any more and I would die pretty quickly. I saw the latch on the door slowly rise and then it opened a fraction. Cool air swept in, and I glanced at my captors, hoping whoever it was wouldn't wake them too soon. The door opened another fraction, and I saw a head appear round it. A blonde head, bandaged on one side. Naomi...

The rush of relief was instant. I stared at her and she stared at me. Her eyes were wide, but watchful, the gun held out in front of her steadily. She took in the whole scene in a second. Me tied to the bed, naked and bruised. The two men sleeping, sated. I saw her mouth settle into a hard line.

XXX

Naomi

I knew I should have looked into Effys room sooner. Only the pain in my head and the bigger pain in my heart prevented it. I was packed and out of the four poster room in minutes. I opened the door to what should have been Katie's room and collected up all her things. I could hear voices downstairs, but I ignored them. I walked to what would had been Emily's and my room and threw all Katie's things onto the floor beside the big bed. They could fucking share, I was done with the pair of them, Tears stung my eyes, but I wiped them fiercely away. No time for sentiment now. Survival was now my only priority. Look where love and emotion got you. Fucked that's where.

Thats when I decided to look into Effy's room. I knew immediately what had happened. She'd gone. Her boots and rucksack missing and open drawers and wardrobe. I went down to the lounge, ignoring Emily's broken look and Katie's hateful stare.

"Cook" I said "Effy's missing"

He jumped up and gripped my shoulders, staring into my face.

"Gone?" he said "Outside?"

I nodded

Katie spoke.

"Good fucking riddance" she hissed, and I almost lost it. I stared at the ceiling for a moment and tried not to shoot the bitch there and then. It was Cook who spoke, and it was all the more shocking coming from him.

"Shut your nasty mouth, you little _cunt_ " he said in a low voice. The voice I knew was Cook at his angriest. If Katie answered him back now, he might well break her neck.

"When this is done. When we find her, and you'd better hope to hell we find her OK, we're done" he said "I'm going to drop you two back on the mainland. We'll be fine without you. We only got together because Naomi was stupid enough to like you" He looked hard at Emily. "But if our friend is hurt...or..." he stopped. He didn't need to say any more.

Katie had the sense for once to say nothing, staring sullenly at him, and Emily just sobbed into her sleeve, pleading with me with big eyes full of tears. I turned away from her then. My heart was cold and dead to her.

XXX

Cook

I saw the faint light from the hut before Naomi, and hand signalled her to circle around it. I cursed myself for not checking further up the road. It might be fine, of course, she could be in there brewing up cocoa and snuggling down for a nights sleep, but something told me a darker tale was being told tonight.

I took the back and Naomi took the door. She tested the lever before nodding to me. Open, then.

I peered through the gaps in the rough wooden boards. I could see a man asleep by the door, and another pair of feet on the floor, no doubt asleep too. Good. Both men, obviously, but no sign of Effy. Then I saw the door open slightly and Naomi's gun poke through, followed by her head. I saw the look on her face even in the orange glow of the old lamp and knew it was bad. She looked up at the wall, where she knew I would be watching and nodded. She signalled two bad guys. We only needed one to tell us the story. One to torture and kill later. She raised the gun deliberately and aimed at the man on the chair. Pop. Pop. Two silenced shots. He slumped forwards, not even waking up to see his killer. The other guy stirred and sat up, his mouth open and scared. She put a round into his knee and then he screamed. It hurts, you see, a bullet in the knee, more than almost anything. Its shatters the kneecap and any movement increases the pain a hundredfold.

While he was thrashing about and screaming, I ran round the hut and pushed open the door. What I saw will live with me for ever. Effy. Poor gentle sad little Effy, spread-eagled naked on the bed. Blood on her face, on her thighs, and livid bruises across her body. I didn't need a debrief to discover what had gone on. Her face crumpled when she saw me and she made a pathetic attempt to cover herself with her free hand. I took off my camo jacket and covered her while she wept and Naomi untied her. I asked the other bumpkin a few pointed questions while Naomi got Effy out of the room. I found out that they were the last left on the island. Troops had come just after the blasts and evacuated everyone to fuck knows where. He begged for his life of course. Even in the agony of his shattered knee, he begged.

Too fucking bad. Someone had to pay, and his friend had been dispatched far too kindly. I took him out onto the road, about a hundred yards from the hut, whilst Effy and Naomi waited silently down the hill. I shot him in the other knee, then in both elbows, while he screamed for mercy. Mercy he hadn't given Effy. I reckon he would take about 24 hours to die up here. Shock and blood loss would get him eventually. No one ever said life was fair.

Twenty minutes later, we had Effy upstairs in a hot bath, and I left Naomi to tend to her. The twins were still up in the lounge and Harry and Jake were with them. I knew from the looks on all their faces that they understood something terrible had happened to Effy. Emily looked totally broken and even Katie had the grace to stay silent, looking at the floor, her face pale and shocked.

"You need to pack" I said to the twins "I never want to see your faces again, after tomorrow. Jake, make sure the boat is ready for first light, OK?"

He nodded uncertainly, looking from one face to the other.

XXX


	16. Chapter 16

Emily

This could be the hardest and most humiliating morning of my life. Katie and I stayed up most of the night, despite the fact that we could be marooned on the mainland today, without the professional support mechanism that is Naomi and Cook. I still find last nights events hard to believe. One minute I am sitting on the couch with Naomi, drinking strong beer and making her lurid promises about that four poster. The next I am standing over her with my fist clenched and she is looking up at me with a look as cold as the Ice Queen from Narnia. What the fuck? Standing up for my sister is standard behaviour, but **what** was I thinking of? Calling her a cunt, _hitting_ her, hating her for even a tiny second? Weird. But that doesn't solve our problem. Let's be honest, despite my sisters utter belief in her infallibility and physical prowess, we would last about 30 seconds in a proper fist fight. Two five feet two twins in a world full of rapists and pillagers. We would be fucked, in every sense of the world and spend the rest of eternity with our throats cut, looking up into the silent sky.

And what about Effy? No one would tell me what had happened to her, but judging by the cold look in Cooks eyes and the way Harry and Jake avoided even meeting our pleading looks, it was bad. I mean really bad. I never saw her come back in, but Naomi's brief glance at me as I passed her in the hallway was pure Medusa. I could have turned to stone in a moment.

I had to try to get a reprieve from our exile on the mainland. There was really no point in trying to crack Naomi just yet. She had retreated behind those big old walls, and I knew there was no chance she would listen to me while her friend was still recovering from whatever hell she had been through last night. So I tried what I thought would be the easiest route. Cook.

Bad move. He eyed me as if I was something infectious when I cornered him in the kitchen at 6 am. The sun had just come up and Jake was already on his way to the boat, ready for our departure. I smiled weakly at him, but he just grunted and turned away, cooking eggs in the skillet.

"Cook?" I said quietly.

"Yeah?" he said, still flipping his two eggs in the pan "Ready to go, are we?"

"Can I talk to you Cook? " I said nervously

"Thought we were all out of discussions babe" he said in a disinterested voice "Where's the toxic twin then, gone to give Effy some weed killer in case she's still lingering?"

"Please?" I said, and my voice caught in my throat. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but at the moment, it seemed impossible.

"I know we were wrong, both of us, and I have no excuses. I just flipped when I saw Naomi hurting Katie. I know she can be a heartless, evil bitch sometimes..."

"Only sometimes?" he said with a cold smile.

"OK, most of the time" I said, lowering my eyes as he stared at me levelly.

"Look Cook. You and I both know if you dump us on the mainland, we'll probably last 24 hours before we are either killed, or captured by someone and get the same treatment as Effy did last night" I bit my lip as his face hardened. Bad move Emily, reminding him of what our little cabaret last night resulted in.

I stopped him with my hand as he went to speak. Now or never.

"I know, I know. It's totally our fault _that_ happened to her. Your friend"

He nodded. "You got that right at least Emily" he growled "My friend...and Naomi's _best_ friend"

I carried on.

"So, I know I can never make it up to you or Effy, let alone Naomi, who must hate me at the moment" I started.

This time he held his hand up and stopped me.

"For someone who has spent the past few weeks with her tongue permanently inside Naomi's snatch, you don't seem to know her very well, do you Fitch?" he said harshly "Maybe that's the trouble. You two have been going at it so hard and often, I don't think you could have had a single meaningful conversation, apart from who's turn is it to be the top...have you?"

I realised he was right. We had been in the honeymoon before we ever got engaged, if that make sense. No dates, no 'getting to know you' just instant lust and then wall to wall fucking. I know we are in a post apocalypse situation here, but he was right. We didn't _know_ each other very well at all.

"Oh" I said "Yeah"

"Naomi is about the most complicated and yet the most simple person you will ever meet" he said, turning away from the fucking eggs at last. "She doesn't make friends easily, let alone lovers. She got her heart broken when she was 19, and I'm not sure she's got over it, even now. You were the first woman I saw her really give in to, since Emma. When she loves you, that's it. No compromises, no half measures. You're it. OK?"

I nodded. What could I say?

"But if you fuck her up...and you have fucked her up in the worst possible way, there may never be a way back for you. She doesn't forgive easily either. I wish I could tell you that it will all be fine eventually, but I won't lie to you Emily. She may _never_ be 'your' Naomi again. You sided with your sister, when she was clearly in the wrong, and she may never be OK with that, _ever_ "

I swallowed thickly, forcing back the sob that threatened to escape my throat. The word _never_ echoed around my head.

He looked at me sideways and put his eggs between two thick slices of home made bread we had rescued from the freezer last night. The yolk ran down his chin as he chewed, but I ignored it. This was no time for etiquette.

"I _will_ talk to her. But not today, OK?", he said, still chewing I nodded "The best I can do is to delay things a bit. I should be taking you both to Cornwall this morning, but I'm gonna compromise, just this fucking once. There's no way you, and especially Katie, can be in the same building as the rest of us. I'm not sure any of us are gonna be OK with Katie after this. I'll find you a cottage, scope it out and make sure it's safe. Not too far away, but far enough so we don't have to share breakfast tables, right?"

I nodded again. It was a reprieve, if only a small one. Cook still had to get Naomi and Effy to agree. I knew Harry and Jake would be OK. Last nights little show horrified both of them, but they were new to all this, so I think they would go along with the majority decision. Or I hoped they would.

Katie was still asleep, but I stood no fucking nonsense from her. I threw her clothes at her when I got back to the room and started packing both our gear.

"W..Where the fuck are we going, _bitch_..." she grumbled, still half asleep.

"Fuck's sake Katie" I growled "Last nights events slipped your mind? I've just spent ages downstairs persuading Cook not to dump us back on the mainland, so get your sorry arse into gear. We're relocating. Somewhere you can't wreak destruction on a nightly basis"

She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head, mumbling something. I had had enough of her and her fucking attitude. I slipped out of the door and into the bathroom next door. Grabbing an empty jug, I filled it with cold water and went back to our room. Sure enough she was still under the pillow. I grabbed it away with one hand and threw the contents of the jug over her head with the other. I don't think I have ever seen my sister move faster.

"What the FUCK?" she screamed, water cascading down her tee shirt and onto the carpet "I'm gonna kill you, you fucking **BITCH** "

She launched herself at me, but I was ready for her this time. Naomi already knew I pack a good left hook. Now Katie does too. I landed one beauty smack on her button nose. Now bright blood joined the watery puddle at her feet. She looked at me dazed, and started to rant. I raised my fist again, and this time she flinched. Good. Time for _me_ to talk.

"Wrong on every level Katie" I screamed at her "It's **YOUR** fault we're being evicted, **YOUR** fault Effy is laying in a room covered with bruises and fuck knows what else, and **YOUR** fault my girlfriend now hates me for sticking up for you! I swear to God, if you don't get ready in 3 minutes and lose that fucking attitude, I'll help Cook put you on that boat myself. We're done here. No more nice little sister bailing you out, OK?

I've seldom seen Katie lost for words, but this was one of those rare events.

Ten minutes later she emerged into the early morning daylight, a handkerchief at her nose and watery marks down her cheeks. I hoped they were tears. Cook and Jake were standing by a liberated Suzuki Jeep, and we slung our gear into the back before climbing in behind them. I looked up at the hotel windows before we pulled away and I think I saw a flash of blonde hair...But I could have been imagining it.

Twenty minutes later the Suzuki was parked outside a small cottage, the other side of the island. It was a holiday rent, just like the one we had stayed in in Mousehole, and for a second my heart ached for those simpler, happier times. Cook and Jake carried our stuff inside, and checked out the rooms and the surrounding area for any danger. At any other time I would have loved the cottage. Two bedrooms, a small kitchen and decent bathroom. No electricity of course, but there were three Coleman North Star tilley lamps stored in the cupboards and plenty of fuel in the jerry cans outside the back door. Fresh linen under the beds, and Cook had brought enough cans and dried food with him to feed an army. We would be OK for at least a week. Before they left, he gave me two Glocks with a box of Gold Dot hollow point bullets. He explained they were the best self defence rounds you could buy.

"Small going in, but fucking huge coming out the other side" he laughed grimly. "Hit anyone with one of these baby's and there ain't a hospital in Europe that can save you. Even if there were any fucking hospitals left"

That was some comfort, I suppose. I grabbed the guns and ammo and stored one under each of our beds, making sure they were both loaded, with one in the pipe for luck. _Some_ of my training had stuck, anyhow.

With a forced smile, I watched the Suzuki bump down the unmade road back towards the hotel. It was a 10 minute drive over the hill and along the coast, but walking would probably be 25 minutes or so, across the grassy landscape. It felt like a thousand miles at this moment, The silence when they had gone was palpable. Katie and I looked at each other and smiled thinly. This was it then, the end of the big adventure. Alone, together...again

XXX


	17. Chapter 17

Naomi

Waking up with a warm body spooning behind to you is usually very nice. It _is_ nice now, but something's just a bit, I dunno, _off t_ his morning. I opened my eyes slowly and carefully. The late autumn sun is now much lower in the sky, making a shaft of pure brightness spear across my vision at this time of the morning. 07.35, the digital clock says.. I squint and groan at the prospect of another backbreaking day in paradise. Its wood chopping time. Cook says we need loads of fuel for the big log fire in the lounge, and who am I to argue? I hear an answering semi conscious groan behind me and blink blearily a couple of times, just for luck, letting my brain catch up with my aching body. My body...Oh yeah, that small thing. Just one, even _tinier_ problem. A smooth, feminine arm is around me in a very familiar way, and her hand is holding my fucking left tit in an all too possessive way altogether.

Fucking Effy Stonem.

I sigh in an exaggerated way, hoping she'll realise that she's way over the line in invading my personal space here, but she just sighs back at me comfortably and squeezes a bit harder, running her slim thumb over my soft flesh. I feel my treacherous nipple catching up with the rest of my waking body, crinkling perkily in eager anticipation of yet more stimulation. So I turn my head to glare at her, and the bitch is grinning cheekily back at me, wide awake now. I grab her hand and remove it, shoving it back to her side, giving her more Campbell death stare treatment in return.

Pointless...she's been immune to it since primary school. I should know better.

"If you're gonna feel me up, Stonem" I growl in what I hoped was a dismissive tone, "Have the grace to wait till I'm fully conscious, yeah?"

"No fun in that babe" she laughs " Anyway, you woke _me_ , with all those _'Oh_ , _Emily's...more baby...faster...deeper_ ' in your sleep"

"Fuck off Elizabeth" I said "I didn't...I wouldn't... did I?" Suddenly I am the one on the defensive here. I _might_ have been having that sort of dream last night at some point. Emily Fitch wasn't quite out of my system yet, despite not seeing her for weeks. My clit was still definitely doing cold turkey here, as it were.

Effy sat up, still smiling annoyingly, and mussed her bed hair a bit.

"You might have thrashed about a bit...murmuring endearments..." she said in that infuriating know all drawl she has. "Wouldn't be the first time in the past 6 weeks you've had sexy Emily dreams. When are you gonna swallow that Campbell pride and go see her, you daft bitch?"

"Sometime never" I said, sitting up too and glaring at her defiantly "I said it's over, and it is"

"Big fat fail Naomi" she said without malice "You are _**so**_ not over her. She fucked up big time by siding with her sister when she was drunk, you punished her by sending her and her toxic twin away, and now its time for the two of you to think about making monkey again. I'm fine now...you don't need to sleep in here with me any more, Naomi. The nightmares have finished. Sharing a bed with me is more about _you_ now, not me. Why not admit I'm a poor substitute for a short brunette with killer tits and an impressive vocal range when orgasming?"

"Bollocks" I said shortly "I'm over her, end of"

"That is fucking pure _bullshit_ Campbell" she smiled "You and her? Fucking Mills and Boon ain't in it. Get your skinny arse over to their cottage this morning and sort this shit out. As of tonight, I want my nice big double bed to myself again. That's unless you fancy relieving my stress in a much nicer...damper way? I haven't had a good orgasm in ages. Sleeping platonically with you has put a proper chill on my usual four times weekly self abuse..."

She raised an eyebrow in delight at my utterly horrified expression.

"Thought not" she laughed " Not just me that needs to let off steam then?"

It _had_ been 6 weeks since Emily and Katie were shipped off by Cook to the little house on the prairie, and if it wasn't for the fact that we were talking about Effy Stonem here, I would say this conversation was surreal. For fucks sake, she had been _raped_ , probably multiple times by those thugs only a few weeks ago. Anyone else would be a gibbering wreck. Sure the bruises and cuts only took a couple of weeks to heal, but mentally, she seemed to have put it all in a emotional box marked 'sordid, nasty things' and just got the fuck over it. We had given her a course of antibiotics and the morning after pill, which we miraculously found in the tiny island chemists (who knew Scilly Islanders were so wild?) straight away, but she was fucking indestructible, it seemed. The nightmares had lasted a couple of weeks longer than the physical marks, but to be honest, she was probably right. Sharing a bed with her now was more about me having someone to fuss over, rather than her needing a hand to hold.

As always, she read my thoughts.

"Look" she said, as though explaining quantum theory to an idiot. "Let's be honest. I got attacked and knocked about a bit. But its not as if I have never had rough sex before, is it Naoms? I've woken up in enough strange bedrooms, still off my nut on chemicals, with more than one naked male snoring in the room with me, feeling bruised and battered, and with a mouth tasting of semen and smoke"

I shuddered at her bluntness, but had to silently agree, there had been some crazy times back when we were at college. She certainly went for it in those days. She had quite a reputation for trying just about anything, including quasi rape it seemed. She wasn't called the 'Threesome Queen' for nothing...

"OK" I said quietly "I'll move my stuff out this morning. But the first sign of screams in the night, Eff, and I'm coming running"

She smirked at me knowingly. "Just don't mistake night terrors for sexual satisfaction Naomi" she laughed "We wouldn't want you to rush in and find me naked, thrashing about in orgasmic pleasure, would we?"

"Fuck no" I said, grimacing " _Not_ on my 'to do' list today"

"Although I seem to remember you like a bit of extreme pleasure in the bedroom..." she said, her eyes glazing over at some long distant memory. Effy and I had done the dirty deed back in college a couple of times, when I was still sorting out my sexuality, and she never lost the opportunity to remind me about it. Effy was kind of uni sexual. Male, female and anything in between was fine for her, as long as they got her off. Impressively non selective.

"Ancient history Eff" I said, jumping up and searching for something more dignified than an army issue green tee and knickers to wear.

"Which is what you and that little brunette sex bomb will be if you don't sort this out. We won't be on our own here for ever, and the first half decent hot dyke we meet up with will have Emily's tiny pants down faster than you can say cunnilingus"..she teased mercilessly " I think you might hate that... watching her fall for someone else's... charms?"

"Not mine to worry about any more" I said, not even fooling myself. The sickening drop in my stomach at Effy's words proved that

"Won't stop it hurting like fuck though babe, will it?" she said, the smile disappearing. "Let that one slip through your fingers hun, and you'll spend the rest of the time we're all together watching her get down and dirty with another hot honey...and then it _will_ be too late"

I wish I could say I brushed off her taunts without inwardly crumbling, but I'd be lying. I burned with jealousy even thinking about another woman's hands on, let alone _inside_ Emily Fitch. Despite what she'd done, and despite my inbuilt natural ability to hold on to a grudge like a shipwrecked sailor with only a floating deck chair for salvation.

So, it was less than an hour later I found myself running in a completely different direction to my normal exercise routine. I jogged quickly over the hill and down the grassy slope the other side. Soon, I could see a small jumble of holiday cottages in the distance. One of them had a small plume of wood smoke coming from the chimney, so I didn't need Cook's directions to find which one the Fitches were living in. As I got closer, I could see no signs of life, so I slowed down. It was after 8, so I guessed maybe Katie was still sleeping the sleep of the terminally insensitive, but I knew from experience that Emily liked to get up and have her morning coffee about now. I mentally kicked myself for being so fucking in tune with the habits of my ex, but carried on, walking now instead of running. I got to the small front garden and started to walk up the path to the ledge and braced door. Before I got there, I stopped, as a faint sound reached my ears. It was someone humming. I cocked my head and grinned, despite my nerves. _Emily_.

She always hummed tunelessly to whatever sad song she was into at the time, and I recognised 'I predict a riot' which was fucking hilarious, when you think about it. There were only a handful of us on this island, so it would be a lame sort of riot, I laughed to myself. The Kaiser Chiefs were probably performing in vapour format somewhere high in the troposphere, so I didn't think we would be getting any live performances for a millenium or two.

I stepped round the cottage and saw her kneeling in the small garden. She was planting seeds. Now I'm no horticulturist, but I didn't think Gardeners Question Time was still available, so I wondered briefly where she had got the idea, but that was Em (fuck, did I just call her that?) It was so...I dunno... _Emily_ , I guess. My heart did a big treacherous somersault at the scene in front of me. She was wearing tight black jean shorts which did nothing for protection against the crisp late autumn air, but a whole lot for my flagging libido. Her arse filled them all too perfectly, and the wiggle she gave it when trying to push the dibber into the ground made me think things I thought I had buried weeks ago. Some chance. Her upper body was covered, if thats an adequate description in a too small red singlet, and horror of horrors, I could see the side of one perfectly formed bare breast as she knelt there. I swear if I stood there one more second, I would have fucking jumped her., so I opened my mouth to speak.

"Its rude to stare" she said quietly, making me jump at least fucking foot. Some special forces operative I am, I thought. Can't even sneak up on a five foot two gardening civilian nowadays.

"Sorry" I said, and at the sound of my voice, she spun round and stared at me in total surprise. I suppose she was expecting Katie, or Cook, but certainly not her ex.

Cook had been over a few times in the past weeks, making sure they had supplies.

"N...Naomi?" she said, blowing a stray lock of that lustrous dark hair out of her eyes. Her face was flushed from the effort of planting seeds and I noticed a thin film of sweat on her smooth shoulders. My inner demon suggested several things I could do to her that made me flush brightly, but this time I ignored it. Her eyes flicked over my body, noting no doubt my own running shorts and tight vest top. I at least had the small satisfaction of realising that she still found me interesting enough to check out thoroughly.

"Yeah" I said, equally quietly. All the words and sentences I had been practising on the way over here disappeared into the cool morning air "Hi Emily" I managed at last.

She stood quickly, brushing earth from her fingers as she did and stared at me warily. I tried, totally unsuccessfully, as it turned out, to avoid staring at those beautiful unfettered tits as they bounced attractively. Fail number two, Naomi.

"Its been a while" she smiled uncertainly, and I fell in love with her a bit more. God I miss that gentle face I thought, before pushing it aside.

"How have you been " I tried lamely.

"OK, I guess" she said "Katie is bored witless, of course, but the she always has me to bully when she gets irritated" She shrugged.

"Oh" I said "Katie...where is the poison dwarf this morning. Isn't she supposed to be sleeping on ten mattresses with a pea underneath?"

Emily giggled "Believe it or not, she's gone fishing. She found a set of fishing gear in the shed out the back. My dad used to take us when we were little, and I think it was either that or pulling the wings off flies as entertainment. Actually, she's surprisingly good at it….the fishing that is, not dismembering insects... we had fresh whiting for tea yesterday"

I laughed too, sounding a bit like a strangled seal.

"Katie Fitch fishing" I smiled "Is there no end to the alliteration you can add to her name?"

We laughed again, but the atmosphere was electric now, and I knew we were just delaying the inevitable.

"Emily?" I said, and the laughter died. She looked at me silently and waited for me to carry on.

"We have to talk" I said, looking at my feet to avoid being pulled in by her hypnotic eyes.

She blinked at me before answering slowly. "That's just the problem though, isn't it Naomi" she said "We _never_ talked, did we, not really. We went straight from hello, how are you, to an extended sex crazed honeymoon"

"I know" I said sadly "and just when we should have been getting to know each other, it was too late. I was hurting your sister, and you were punching my lights out"

She grimaced and tried to apologise yet again, but I shook my head. No point in going over old ground. That wasn't why I was here.

"Look Emily...The past is the past. I don't know _how_ I feel about you at the moment to be honest, and I don't know if things can or will ever be the same again, but I do know that we are possibly the last bunch of people alive within a hundred miles. It makes no sense for us to be at each others throats. Can we at least be friends for now?"

I saw the look of disappointment cross her face before she masked it with a small smile. I knew how she felt, but my pride wouldn't let me make any more concessions yet.

"Sure" she said "I'd like that Naomi"

"OK" I breathed "Well, I'd better get going. Cook has some crazy idea about going over to St Mary's to see if there are any friendlies still alive. And _Hiawatha_ will be back soon, bearing food for the communal fire, so I'll see you around, yeah?"

She smiled at my jibe at her sister, but her face betrayed her misery. I guess it had been hard here for the past 6 weeks, not knowing if they would ever be accepted back into our little band of vagabonds.

"See you then Naomi" she said, and surprised me by stepping forward and placing a gentle kiss on my cheek "Friends, right?"

I nodded, and turned away before my heart could betray me again. That kiss burned on my cheek all the way back. Who was I fucking kidding? I still loved her.

XXX

Four hours later, things had changed for all of us, and they would turn out never the same again. Cook and I came back with 30 fresh diesel jerry cans lined up in the skiff towed behind our boat, about a hundred cartons of tinned and dried food...and three passengers.

When we got off the boat, Jake and Harry ran down to the jetty to greet us. Effy was inside, cooking lunch, but hearing the noise from outside, came out of the hotel kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron. Domestic bliss or what?

Cook and I tied up the boat, before jumping onto the quay. Behind us came our three new 'warriors'. The first person to step off the boat, looking warily around, was the woman, Anna. Portuguese, in her mid twenties, dark skinned and voluptuous (not that I noticed of course...checking out her big tits and curvy arse was _definitely_ off limits). We had found all three refugees sheltering in an abandoned supermarket, when we were looting supplies. Cook had them at gunpoint when I got to them.

So, there was Anna. Then her younger brother Fausto and her four year old boy child Mauricio. Her brother was 18, and the cockiest little shit I had ever met. All brown eyes and flashing white teeth. I disliked him on sight, but Cook had persuaded me to bring them all back with us. Despite that fact that we had almost certainly rescued them from eventual starvation and death, he was only interested in hitting on me. I knew he would be trouble when he got to Tresco, and saw Effy, Katie, Emily and Harry. Four new females for him to try his snake hipped Latin charm on... Trouble ahead. Yep.

XXX

The trouble didn't come from Fausto, although he supplied the fuse that lit the explosion. It was Anna, with her big sloe eyes, casually magnetic air and ambiguous sexuality. Effy had been right all along, you see... Emily Fitch was a perfect magnet for lesbian and bisexual women. Trouble was, I had bought the means of my own destruction home with me...


	18. Chapter 18

Naomi

I should have known it would mean trouble, but Cook as usual, was thinking with his cock. She _was_ beautiful, in a sort of over ripe Mediterranean way. All dark eyes, full lips and white teeth. Her body was a bit of a magnet for all our eyes, and I knew instantly there was no way that Cook would be able to resist her pleas to come with us. The fact is she was fucking hot. The other salient fact, that her brother was a walking macho cliché didn't alter that. He hit on me the moment we dropped our weapons and let them explain what had happened to them. Basically, they had been part of a group that had travelled to the Scillies to work on a farm, picking crops during the harvest. After the attacks on the mainland, everyone had freaked, and the farmer had told them all to leave. The man and his family had friends on a smaller outlying island, and they abandoned their farmhouse, sailing off in a small boat to hide out. The workers had grouped together for safety, and had been doing alright until Fausto got caught with his hand in the knickers of the 14 year old daughter of one of the other immigrant worker guys. Cue massive punch-up, mass disagreements (ring any bells here?) and Anna and her family group were forced out, wandering about, trying to find food and shelter in the least inhabited part of the main island. Just at about that time, Anna said a large grey warship had moored in the main harbour, disgorging a few dozen armed marines, wearing uniforms with red stars on them,

Cook and I exchanged glances at that. Fucking Chinese? That wasn't good. If they were here, it was only a matter of time before they were _here_ , if that makes sense. The troops had herded up all and sundry, watched by Anna and Fausto from a nearby hilltop and made to embark on the ship. Then the troops made a detailed sweep of the area, rooting out hiders and reluctant islanders. The sound of automatic gunfire inside some of the houses told our new friends that it was wisest to stay put and out of sight. It looked like there was no room for friendly disagreement with our oriental invaders. Board ship for fuck knows where or be shot on sight. Not a happy prospect. I knew from my old military studies that the Chinese state had little time for dissent or individuality. Tienanmen Square and all that.

Perhaps they were humanitarian in their intention, but I had no wish to find myself, or any of the others, shipped off to some Chinese version of Stalag 12.

So, we found these guys, days after the Chinese had left, and brought them back to our own particular island paradise. Trouble was, if the invaders had been to St Mary's, they were definitely gonna be on our island soon. Time for a long chat with our friends, and an alternative plan of action.

I fended off Faustos's lame chat up lines easily enough. His English wasn't as good as his older sisters, but I caught the drift OK. You, Me, willy waggle, was about the extent of it. For fucks sake, all we needed now was a mini Cook, waving his erection about...

Once he found out from Cook that I played for the other team, as it were, the short journey back was full of questions about the rest of our group, I was ignored. Finding out we were mainly female made his small black eyes glitter unpleasantly, and he got a volley of rapid fire Portuguese venom from his sister in response to his crude questions to me. I don't think she approved. I murmured to Cook that if I found our European friend with his hands anywhere near Harry's underwear, he would be singing soprano for the rest of his life. Cook briefly took his eyes off Anna's frankly impressive tits long enough to agree with me. He was very protective of Harry, and I knew that was probably not our main concern.

So I sat with Anna, as Cook steered the boat (all those lessons from Jake obviously worked) and we chatted agreeably enough, although I was under no illusions she had any interest in me really. She told me she had had Mauricio when she was 19, so that made her 23, about my age, her boyfriend had abandoned her when she got pregnant, and she left Portugal to seek work in the UK. Her brother had followed her after yet another incident with some guys daughter. The pattern which was emerging wasn't something I liked, but short of tipping him overboard whilst his sister was distracted, there wasn't much I could do about it, at least in the short term. Then she let slip something which _did_ give me pause. We were talking about relationships, and I told her I was gay. Didn't seem to be a big deal, but her reaction was. She grinned at me broadly, and confessed that after her failed relationship with Mauricios's father, she had sworn off men, and had had several affairs with women. Great. All I needed was another bisexual female in the group. Effy would be ecstatic...

Turned out Effy Stonem was the least of my problems.

When we got back, Cook called a group meeting. Jake was sent over to Katie and Emily's to get them on the dune buggy and bring them back, and we gathered in the big lounge to have a heart to heart about where we went from here.

The moment Emily and Katie arrived it all went downhill. Katie obviously has a problem with being civil at the best of times, but in a room with me, Effy and Cook, it soon got very heated. She sat with her arms folded and argued every point with whoever made it. The only time she smiled was when Fausto flashed her one of those snake oil salesman grins. I knew where _that_ relationship was headed, and risked a look across at Effy as Katie and Fausto eye fucked each other. Her head was down, but I could see she wasn't happy. I have no idea why she had her sights set on such a determinedly heterosexual woman as Katie Fitch, but it wasn't getting her anywhere fast.

We did agree that we needed to be closer together, now danger was on the horizon, and the twins said they would move into a small flat above the post office, so that if we needed to move, we could do so in a matter of minutes.

I had pretty much ignored Anna since the discussions started. She was sitting on the same side of the room as me, and Harry was between us. But when Emily spoke up about storing weapons or something, I saw Anna lean forward in her seat. I knew _that_ fucking look when I saw it. It was the same look I had on my face every time I saw Emily Fitch. A mixture of awe and desire. I knew then that this was a meeting which would matter a lot later on, and the jealousy that flared up in my heart frightened me a bit. I had been kind of used to having Emily to myself, even when I didn't actually want her. Nothing like separation to distil out the bullshit, is there? The green eyed monster stirred in its lair.

I found myself looking at Anna all the time now. There it was again. A blatant eye fuck, and what's worse, my darling ex was lapping it up. Anna did the old, lean forward and show off your cleavage move and I saw Emily's eyes narrow as she drank in the sight of those big brown tits. Cook and Jake were talking about escape routes and boat hiding, but they might as well have been discussing it in Mandarin for all I cared.

'My' girl was being reeled in by the inch by this exotic beauty, and I fucking _hated_ it.

I tried to interrupt this mutual eye fuck by clicking my fingers and asking Cook a question, but from the corner of my eye I saw it wasn't working. The meeting was breaking up, and I saw Anna shoot up from her chair as Cook said we needed to get going on our planning. I stood too, as Anna made a beeline for Emily, smiling that pretty predatory smile. At the same moment, Fausto walked across to Katie and started to put into practice his well worn chat up routine. I could have told him not to bother, if Katie was as interested as she looked, he'd be coming in her mouth soon enough anyway. But as I turned to interrupt the Portuguese love in, Effy touched me on the arm.

"What?" I growled at her.

She smiled at me winningly, as I tried to see over her shoulder to watch Anna doing the whole hair twirling, arm touching pick up routine on Emily.

"Careful Naomi" she smirked "Your murderous jealousy is showing just a tiny bit, my love"

I looked hard at her. "Not helpful Eff" I said shortly "Now if you'll excuse me..."

She touched me again on my arm, trying to stop me making a complete prat of myself, something she has been doing, only occasionally successfully, for about 10 years now.

"Think about what you're doing Naoms" she said quietly "If you go over there, all guns blazing, OK, it'll show Emily that you still care about her, but it will also have the side effect of showing Anna that you care about Emily too. She's new here, and fucking attractive...and more importantly at the moment... _available_. Emily is obviously flattered by her attention. Maybe a more subtle approach is required?"

I took a deep breath and nodded.

"OK, but I hate that fact that she just walks into here, and hits on Emily like that. She's..."

"Not mine?" Effy finished my sentence unhelpfully.

"Thats not what I was gonna _say_ " I said hotly " she's...oh fuck it, I don't know what I mean!"

Effy made that face friends do when they know their advice isn't going to be taken.

"Seriously Naoms...you need to make up your mind. At the moment, Emily and you are...just...friends? If you want her to be more again, you can't stay at arms length, no matter how much it massages your bruised ego. Our new friend over there is working hard to to get Emily in the sack in days, if not sooner?"

I looked over Effy's shoulder and saw that she was right in one, as always. Anna was now telling fucking jokes, by the look of it. Emily's eyes were sparkling and she looked like she was enjoying the hell out of her new status as Tresco's most popular single lesbian. My stomach clenched and ice water seemed to replace my blood. She was fucking _enjoying_ it. I glared at them pointlessly, trying my Medusa death stare, but when Emily momentarily looked over in my direction, before returning all her attention to Anna, all I got was a single raised eyebrow. The unspoken " _Look at me, I'm attractive and desirable, and if you don't want me, she_ _obviously does_ " was louder than a banshee scream in my brain. I swear steam actually came out of my ears. Bitch.

I took Effy's advice for maybe the second time in my life and just fucking walked away. I may not be ready to stake my claim officially on Emily, but I'm sure as fuck I didn't want to see her pulled in front of me... My last sight of Emily was of her smiling up at the taller woman and brushing Anna's upper arm with her hand. I felt sick. This is so royally fucked up, I thought bitterly.

That night, alone in my bed for the first time in 6 weeks, wasn't very comfortable for me. Jealousy makes a lousy companion...On reflection I'd rather wake up with Effy squeezing my tits…

The next few days were a necessary but distracting blur of preparation and logistics. If the Chinese Navy turned up in strength, we were fucked. But with a bit of warning, we could avoid them. We scoped out a couple of bolt holes, and Jake plotted a course to the island of Ushant, a god forsaken rock off the coast of Northern France, which would act as our refuge if we had to bail quickly. From there, it was either the Canaries or Madeira. We ran out of ideas after that, but short of sailing the high seas indefinitely, it would have to do.

But the problem was closer to home for me. Emily and Anna were now new BFF's and I was the original spare wheel. I don't know when the dynamic changed so completely, but suddenly I wasn't calling the shots any more. My conversations with my ex were getting more and more perfunctory. It wasn't like she avoided me. More that I wasn't so important to her. It fucking hurt, and being me, I let it show. More than once I let loose on someone else as a substitute for shouting out my frustration at Emily's change of heart.

It came to a head because of Katie, of course. Needless to say, her liaison with Fausto developed quickly. She didn't go back with him the first night, but the next day they disappeared in to the fields, and when they came back, he had grass stained knees and Katie was looking 'just fucked'. Not exactly subtle. They were joined at the hip after that, and the following Saturday morning, when I had finally decided to flat out ask Emily what was going on, I got my answer. I left my bedroom, after a long shower, lamely practising my 'love me, not her' speech. I crossed the courtyard and then the street, looking up at the Post Office upper floor windows for signs of life. There was a metal staircase at the back and I climbed it quickly. Getting to the top, I knocked at the blue door sharply, before I lost my courage.

It was a while before the door opened. A obviously annoyed Katie stood there, bed hair and all, dressed in bra and knickers.

"What the actual fuck Campbell?" she sneered unhelpfully. "Its only 9 o clock, some people have someone to shag" Right, so Fausto was obviously in there with her.

"Thanks for the time check Katie" I sneered back "Is your nicer sister at home?"

I didn't like the smug look she gave me as she answered

"Emily is over at Anna's" she leered "Spent the night there, actually. I was here all night with Fausto...great fuck that boy, very...inventive"

I swallowed hard "W...what?" I said dumbly "N..no way would Emily..."

"Err, I think that's a yes way Campbell" she scowled "You hurt her, now she doesn't want you any more. She's getting her pipes cleaned by a whole new lezzer tongue these days"

Her words rang in my ears like church bells.

I actually stumbled as I walked away from the steps. My mind was whirling and nothing seemed to be in its rightful place any more. Effy was right...I had lost her.

As I crossed back over the courtyard, I caught a flash of dark hair, and the door of the cottage Anna and her son were staying in opened. I saw Emily come out, in the clothes she had worn last night. Anna was with her, and had a proprietary arm round her waist. I saw Anna lean down and give Emily a brief kiss on the lips. Emily turned to walk towards me, then she saw me.

I must have shown my horror, and she stopped in her tracks. My hand was at my mouth, and all I could think, over and over again, was no...no...no...

Tears sprang into my eyes as she looked at me, eyes wide and surprised, and I saw her happy face falter. The smile she had begun was crushed as she saw my expression crumble into despair.

"Naomi...look..it's..." she said slowly, blushing crimson, but I was already running. I ran and ran, out of the village, across the fields, and onto the beach a mile away. Then I stopped and sobbed for what seemed like hours. I had lost her. She had slept with Anna. It really was over...


	19. Chapter 19

Emily

I'm a shit runner at the best of times, so didn't even try to catch up with her when she ran off sobbing into the distance. By the time I'd got Jake out of bed and grabbed the keys to the quad bike from him, she was over the horizon already. Fuck. If there was ever a time when I needed Naomi to get the _right_ end of the poxy stick for once it was now. I knew exactly what she'd thought, when she saw me coming out of Anna's looking like I had spent the night there. Well, I _had_ spent the night there, but not fucking the woman's brains out, which was what Naomi was now convinced of. Don't get me wrong. Anna offered, more than once to... _' take care of my little frustration problem_ '... and at any other time in my single life I would have surrendered to that voluptuous Latin charm in a moment (Those fucking tits _were_ magnificent). But not now. Not when things with Naomi looked like they could be getting better, even just as 'friends'. The reason I slept over there was simple, and definitely Katie Fitch shaped. I was pig sick of watching her impale herself via every orifice on Fausto's ever ready erection. Jesus, sharing a bedroom with her when I was a teenager was bad enough, once she discovered the joys of masturbation and internet porn. But since the poor man's Ronaldo lookalike had appeared, I had had the dubious pleasure of catching them shagging several times a day since he virtually moved in with us. I mean, is there no shame in that mostly empty head of hers? The first time, it was mid blow job, as it were, and I managed to avert my eyes before I went permanently blind. The second time, I was woken up at 4 am by the sound of him screaming at her in Portuguese, the equivalent of 'grab my balls', and the other time? Well, lets just say no one is ever gonna shag me over the kitchen table in _that_ way...male _or_ female. That's an _exit_ , not an entrance, thanks all the same. She deserved that pained look on her face. Slut. She _must_ be keen on him...

So last night, I snapped when I caught them just about to go at it on the kitchen table **again,** when I got back from fetching hot water from the hotel kitchen. I hadn't even cleared away the dishes from dinner for fucks sake. People have to eat off that surface!

I stormed over to Anna's and asked if I could stay over. She thought her birthday and Christmas had arrived, I think. I spent the first hour playing on the floor with Mauricio. He's lovely, always smiling and happy, typical four year old. Once he went to bed, with his soft toy for company, we sat on the couch and talked. Well, I talked about me and Naomi, she mostly listened. By the time it got dark, she had obviously twigged that I wasn't going to be thrashing about naked under her tonight. She tried her best, of course. Let's be honest, we had been flirting with each other for days by then, but the flirting had been mainly for Naomi's benefit, at least from my side. Anna was very good about it. If that had been me, trying to get a girl into bed who had been giving all the right signals, I would have been a bit pissed off. But she shrugged and immediately asked about Effy. On to the next target then...

So I slept on the couch, and Anna went off, presumable to play finger guitar over images of Effy. When I left in the morning, she kissed me and gave me a friendly hug, but I don't think Naomi saw it that way, of course. Well, neither would I in her position, if I was honest. She'd seen me playing up to Anna's pick up routine, and as far as she knew, I was falling for the considerable charms of the new girl on the block. Seeing me come out after staying the night, bed hair and all, and kissing Anna goodbye wasn't likely to do her self confidence a whole lot of good.

It took me less than 3 minutes to get to the beach I knew she would be sitting on. Cook had already told me that this was Naomi's thinking place. Sure enough, as I crested the cliff top, I could see her sitting on a rock, staring out to sea with her head down. Her shoulders were shaking. I could see that from here. I stopped the quad's engine, and clambered down the steep slope until I was right behind her.

"Go away Emily" she growled, ninja to the last.

I walked round her until she had no choice but to look at me.

"No" I said flatly "Not until you listen to what I've got to say"

She stared at me, those big baby blues red rimmed from crying, and her cheeks still wet.

"Go ahead then, disappoint me" she said in a flinty voice. I took a deep breath and started.

"Have I ever, in all the time you've known me, told you a lie?" I said, staring back.

She considered that and shrugged "Always a first time" she sneered.

"Just listen, OK" I said wearily. She could be fucking hard work sometimes.

"I didn't, and have _never_ slept with or fucked Anna. I know what you think you saw, but I stayed there overnight because I was sick of seeing Katie inhaling Anna's brother's dick over the breakfast table every morning. They are being about as subtle as a Cook joke at the moment, and I just had to get away for a while. I would have come to you...but we're just being _friends_ right now, yeah?"

I paused for an answer, but she just continued staring at me hostilely.

"Look Naomi. I'm going to be totally honest, because I'm sick to death of tiptoeing around 'us'. We've got to decide if we're going to make a go of it as a proper couple. Being friends, just isn't going to cut it. I can't just be _friends_ with you Naomi. I love you. It's as simple as that. If you can't get over what happened with Katie and me, then I guess Cook is really going to have to relocate us. Not on the mainland, because that's a blasted desert, but on another island. I can't live like this. I got the fuck over you shagging Cook because you told me it was a mistake, and promised it would never happen again, and I believed you. Now _I'm_ telling _you_ that I'm sorry too. I hate what I did to you, and I promise that I'll never make that choice again. But you have to meet me half way here. I'll be there for you, but you have to be there for me. Anna is just a friend, although I know she'd like more. I spent half the night talking non stop about you. If she wasn't so nice, she would have thrown me out in the street. Now...what do you..."

I was stopped from continuing by the sight of Naomi springing off the rock she was sitting on and crushing me in a massive hug. Her lips crashed against mine, and she sobbed as she kissed me hard.

"I can't stand it either" she whispered between frantic kisses "I just want to be with you Emily. I'm so sorry for being such a massive tit"

I managed to free my mouth for a second...long enough to crack a joke.

"I wouldn't call your tits massive Naomi ...more firm and bouncy?" I smirked.

Then I kissed her back, as much as I could between her attempts to permanently deprive me of oxygen, and minutes later we were sitting side by side on her rock, looking out at the rough sea crashing into the breakwater offshore. Her hand was holding mine tightly, and I looked down at them joined and allowed myself a small smile. Thank God.

After calling Cook on the short wave radio and telling him we needed some 'us time' today which produced a whoop of joy from him that nearly cost me my hearing, we spent the day just being together. We talked, we laughed and we cried. All the things that we should have been doing before we dropped into that sex filled marathon weeks ago. We were on a 'date' if you could call it that. I held her hand as we walked and talked, and she kissed me on the neck and shoulder as she giggled at some lame story I was telling her about Katie and one of her teenage crushes. She thought it was hilarious, but believe me, it was a story better told in hindsight than actually being there...

We settled some things that should have been settled a while back. I promised to trust her, and she promised to let me. We decided that when we got back, we would tell the whole group that we were now a proper item, and let things take their natural course after that. I felt good for the first time in almost 2 months. It was lovely. We rode back on the quad, her driving, and me happily snuggled up against her back, teasing her with some totally inappropriate hand signals.

When we did get back, Naomi flushed brightly as the whole group gathered in the yard, with the exception of Katie and Fausto (still shagging probably) gave us an ironic round of applause. I giggled at her embarrassment, but she was laughing too. I liked this Naomi, happy Naomi. I wanted to see more of her. So I did...

Later that night, with Effy happy to go back to her old room, we shared the four poster _properly_.

After the first slow love making, whilst we were laying on our backs, side by side, sweat cooling on our bodies, I made a decision. I rolled onto my side towards her and stroked her face, making her smile lazily up at the ceiling.

"Do you _really_ trust me? " I said quietly

She went to turn her head towards me, but I stopped her with my hand.

"I said, do you _trust_ me Naomi?" I said again. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Wait here" I said, and watched her face register shock as I jumped naked out of the bed and started to rummage in my sports bag on the floor. Something had occurred to me earlier, and had brought a little item with me to test her resolve.

I knelt on the mattress beside her as she looked up at me.

"Really trust me?" I said, dangling my new metal friends in my hand.

She gulped and opened her mouth "You've gotta be shitting me" she said

"Nope" I smiled "Trust is about letting go Naomi. We need to test your ability to trust me completely. Are you up for it?"

There was a long pause, during which I have no doubt, Old Naomi was having a serious frank and serious mental discussion with New Naomi. Finally she looked at me with an unreadable expression and nodded. "I trust you completely" she said quietly.

I took one of her arms and raised it over her head, she left it there as I reached for the other one. When they were both together, at the junction of the brass bed head, I unlocked my new friends and clipped her wrists into the handcuffs.

She sighed as I stared at her glorious naked upper body, my mouth watering at the sight of her beautiful breasts. Quickly I stripped off the single white sheet and she laid there, fully naked and helpless.

"First, some rules" I said, laying back beside her and putting my lips close to her ear. I could see the goose bumps stipple her arms as I did.

"You don't move until I say so. You don't speak until I say so...and most importantly, you don't _come_ until I say so, OK?"

Her breath hitched as I said the word come. Someone's motor is already running, I thought. This was delicious. Every instinct Naomi possessed about control and self preservation were screaming at her that this was crazy, dangerous, mad. But she nodded silently. That's all I needed.

"Do you know the sexiest organ in the human body is the brain Naomi?" I said conversationally as I dragged my nails slowly and gently down her side. She shuddered again as I licked up her neck and teased her earlobe, biting it softly.

"I'm going to make your brain come to life Naomi Campbell" I smirked "Your body is mine already"

This time I breathed into her ear and she squeaked as the sensation overcame her obedience to my instructions.

" _Naughty_ Naomi" I said, and stopped what I was doing. Her eyes closed and her brow creased as she tried to do what I wanted.

"Remember..." I said slowly "No sound, no movements, and definitely no orgasm"

She laid there silent and unmoving, submissive.

I started with slow caresses and licks, never staying in one place for too long. I licked her neck again and teased one nipple slowly with my fingers, watching it come erect as I tickled it. Her breathing got faster, but we had all night, and I wasn't about to give her any relief for a while yet. The licks turned to sucks and the fingernails gripped harder as her body responded. I could see just a faint undulation of her hips begin as I sucked hard on a stiff nipple, and immediately stopped what I was doing. The silent scream of protest she made was as eloquent as a Shakespeare Sonnet.

"No noise, no movement" I said again as she bit her lips continually. I knew this must be a beautiful agony for her, but she needed to do this. _I_ needed to do this.

Crouching over her, I allowed my nipples to brush her lips as she lay there immobile. Every nerve in her body would be screaming at her to open her mouth and suck it in, but she stayed silent and still.

I leaned over and whispered in her ear again "Good girl...you're learning"

"Now I'm going to do something nice baby" I sighed "Something you will _really_ like..."

No reaction, apart from another increase in her breathing. Anticipation is the strongest aphrodisiac, isn't it?

I parted her smooth legs wide and trailed my fingers up the inside of one thigh. I could feel the heat coming off her sex before I got there. Good, she was going to be open and wet. Perfect.

I laid back beside her and used the tip of my finger to part her wet folds gently. Searching for and finding her clit easily. It was visible and erect, ready for the next part of my plan. I leaned over to talk to her again, her chest rising and falling quickly now.

"Naomi" I said "I'm going to use the tip of my finger on you now. Nothing else, no thrusting, no tongue, just that. You can nod now, if that's OK"

She nodded frantically, and I almost laughed out loud at how quickly she had adapted to this game. Someone wasn't quite the 'top' she made out to be...

I started to slowly circle her clit with the very tip of my middle finger, using my index and ring fingers to slide up and down her wet folds as I did. No need for extra lubrication, she was wet and hot enough, but I couldn't resist tasting her. Just once. I stopped for a couple of seconds so I could raise my finger to my mouth, which produced a desperate groan from my victim.

"Shhhh, Naomi" I said " I just wanted to taste"

So I did. She still tasted gloriously of the sea, exotic and addictive, and I took pity on her, slipping my finger back inside her before reaching up and allowing her to suck on it, savouring herself.

"You taste wonderful my love " I said "So hot for me, so wet..."

Her frown increased, and I let her get away with a small squeak as I returned to the small bundle of nerves between her legs. Slowly, oh so fucking slowly, I circled and stroked her. I knew her mind must be shrieking at her to beg me for more, more fingers, more thrusting, more tongue, more everything, but she stayed mostly silent. Her hips _were_ rolling ever so slightly, but again, I let that slide. I'm not _that_ much of a sadist...

Minutes passed. The only sounds were the liquid ones my fingers were producing, slipping around her clit. I leaned over again as her hips jerked at one point.

"No movement baby. You need to trust me, OK?"

Again the agonised nod, her forehead beaded with sweat and her eyes wildly moving underneath her closed eyelids.

I knew she was close. I knew she wouldn't be able to stay quiet much longer, so I increased my speed. Her hips were now blatantly rocking against my teasing strokes, but the time for silence and passivity was almost over. I breathed in her ear again and whispered quietly

"I'm going to make you come Naomi Campbell. Come for me my angel, come _now_ "

At that second, I stopped the teasing and thrust two straight fingers inside her wetness, pushing my thumb against her poor tortured clit. Her eyes flew open and her hips arched upwards, inches off the bedsheets. Her mouth opened too, wide and she stared at me as if I was something celestial, something beyond this world

" **Coming**..." she gasped simply, and the walls of her sex closed over my fingers as she spoke. Again and again they clenched, the orgasm picking her up and throwing her around like a rag doll. I rode her through it, every delicious second. She moaned, she panted and she screamed. It was glorious. Naomi Campbell completely undone.

When she had settled back on the bed, chest heaving and eyes wide with amazement at what I had made her feel, I gently undid the handcuffs and let her hold me. There were tears of course. I knew no one had at once made her feel so helpless, but so wonderfully in control before. Call me an arrogant bitch, but I knew in my heart that something had changed between us now. She could trust me again. She was mine.

XXX


	20. Chapter 20

**More smut I'm afraid...**

Effy

In any other life this moment would seem bizarre, or even sordid, but in the fucked up world we live in now, no one in our little group of vagabonds seemed either to mind or care. Jake and Harry were over at Anna's, babysitting little Mauricio. I made a mental note to thoroughly spoil all three tomorrow, because without them I wouldn't be currently having so much fun. It had only taken a word to Anna, a look, and a careful explanation to the only male member of our present little ménage a trois for my request to become vivid reality. Its always been like that for me, to be honest. Since I was 14, men and women have lusted after me. Its a fact of life. OK, I dressed for effect even from that age, but I knew the power I had over both sexes whatever I was _almost_ wearing. From the first sticky, exploratory fumblings on couches and in bus shelters after school dances, to the exotic position I was presently in, I usually had complete control over events. Jimmy Waters, my on off boyfriend during my last years at middle school had followed me around like a lovesick puppy, ever hopeful that I would surrender the one thing he craved above all else...my virginity. I didn't give it to him of course. Even at 15, I knew I wanted my first full lover to be older and more experienced. Jimmy had already demonstrated, on several occasions, his hair trigger. I didn't want my first time to be prematurely ended with a puddle wet stomach and an ache between my legs he couldn't any longer cure. No, I went to France with my mother on a weekend break that summer, and lost my virginity, several times over, to a guy in his 30's I met in a small Rive Gauche bar whilst my mother was comatose with Pernod in our hotel room. He was gentle, considerate and endlessly inventive. They say French men are the only ones in Europe who really understand how to give women oral pleasure. I don't accept that now, these 8 experimental years later, but until I slept with my first woman, it was certainly a step up from clumsy adolescent fingers inside me.

I lay back, allowing my thighs to part obscenely wide, as Anna continued to give me the benefit of her obviously considerable experience at that particular skill, whilst a red faced Cook long stroked her from behind. He'd had his orders, specific and non negotiable. Tonight he was our 'human dildo' The up side to him was obvious. Not only did he get to watch Anna and I make out several times in front of him, but as he so eloquently put it when I suggested tonight. "I get to make my dick damp, yeah" Yes James, I said. "On our terms only, and when we say that's it. You go, OK?" He nodded like the Churchill dog to that.

One of the non negotiable rules was a fresh condom at any time he was inside me or my new Portuguese lover. Cook was allowed to join in, at our discretion, any time either of us felt like _extra_ stimulation. He had been like a kid at Christmas all day, and more than once I had to remind him that this was definitely a one time thing, never to be referred to in public, and certainly not subject to any post match debrief, as it were. He reluctantly agreed, of course...Was there ever any doubt? Since he and Naomi had shared that disastrous post combat shag in Cornwall, the nearest he had come to female company was a wink. And yes, I spelt that correctly.

Anna was moaning something non specific in Portuguese as she slowly licked me. It's funny isn't it, how sex in a foreign language is always more exciting? My first lover in Paris taught me many things, but the most important was the importance of anticipation and breathless sex talk. Judging by the sounds coming out of my, now ex, four poster bedroom, currently occupied by one Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch, someone else was learning the language and power of love. It was rather sweet how they were now so loved up that even hard case Naomi had removed the brutal stick up her arse and learned how to demonstrate her love for Emily in public. Not that they were giving free shows in the bar, but just the little touches and smiles that told the world that they were truly and helplessly in love.

I heard Anna breathe "Meu Deus" and "Tao Bonito" as Cook began to increase his thrusting from behind. I was hoping the _My God_ was for his efforts, and the _So Beautiful_ was for the hot, wet place she was so lovingly caressing with that talented tongue, but we were reaching a time when all of it would blend into sensation anyway, so I put it out of my mind. Cook was serving a useful purpose, keeping Anna on the boil for me, and this was his last 'go' as it were. We'd started with a slow strip and girl on girl show for our tame soldier. He got his clothes off in a world record time watching us slowly kiss and finger each other. When I judged the time was right, we let him join in. No kissing, that was for Anna and me, but we alternated with him inside us, letting his frankly impressive 'technicolour todger' (who _has_ their dick tattooed anyway?) increase our arousal as and when we needed it. His pleas for a blow job were ignored of course. I'd never been a particularly big fan and Anna just wrinkled her pretty nose and looked away. I shrugged at his disappointment. Too many wasted teenage nights having my head held in some guys lap waiting for the inevitable 10 cc's of goo have somewhat dimmed my desire for that sort of activity...not to mention my recent little episode being spit roasted by the locals.

Still, he had a good time, I think, as his thrusting became uncoordinated and he screwed up his face unattractively presumably blowing for the third time tonight, I looked away. Isn't it funny how a man's face in mid orgasm just makes me grimace in distaste, but I could watch a woman come all night? Actually that's what I planned to do.

Anna groaned as she felt him withdraw, but she never missed a stroke with that feline tongue. I had never before had the pleasure of a woman with a tongue which could touch her nose without effort, but after tonight, it might be a physical attribute I'll look for...assuming there were any lesbians left out there, let alone ones with prehensile tongues.

I started to roll my hips in response to her straight middle fingers joining the party, and Cook looked down at us hopefully.

"Sorry babe" I said, between gasps "For you Tommy, the war is over. Back to your room, where you can play back those lurid lesbian mental images to your hearts content. I'm gonna be kinda busy for a while. Be a good boy and fuck off?"

He took one last lingering look at our bodies and shrugged good naturedly.

"Well blow bubbles up my bollocks, and call me Shirley" he said, that cheeky boy grin still there "I might just do that Effy babe. Have fun..."

The door closed behind him and I let my head fall back onto the pillow as Anna continued to lick and suck me to distraction. Time for Effy Stonem to lose control, I thought.

After she had made me come once, and carried on through that orgasm, slowly licking me until I had another small explosion, I returned the favour enthusiastically. This had been a good idea, I told myself. Anna was frustrated, not being able to nail Emily. I was frustrated, not being able to shag Katie, and Cook was...well Cook was Cook. Three problems solved in one night, not bad, even for me...

As we lay there afterwards, side by side, wrapped in contented post coital bliss, I daydreamed about my old ways. After my education at the hands and mouth of Serge, I had gone back to Bristol wiser and more determined than ever to extract every ounce of excitement out of each day. I ditched Jimmy straight away. He was a nice kid, but I'd tasted forbidden fruit now, and the taste was sweeter than he could provide any more. My next boyfriend was older, and at least a little better in the sack. I used my new found oral skills to prise lots of favours from him, and he enjoyed my body as much as anyone ever has since. We broke up when he found out I was sleeping with the new art supply teacher Miss Atwell. Hayley was in her early twenties and drop dead gorgeous. All big grey eyes, smooth skin and spectacular tits. My girl on girl explorations up to then had been mainly of the sleepover, mutual masturbation variety. She opened up a whole new world for me. I knew she was attracted to me from the first time our eyes met in the art room. Her curves and bedroom eyes fascinated me, and I set out systematically to seduce her. I was 16 by then,and I'm afraid my dress sense was as wild then as it is now. Tee shirt dresses which barely covered my arse, frilly knickers and Doc Martens were de rigeur for school. I knew she was hooked when she asked me to help her after school with some bollocks about an exhibition. The only exhibition she was really interested in was the one about to open under my dress... We had exchanged flirty looks and _accidental_ touches for over two weeks before anything physical happened, but I knew it was inevitable. I'd taken to wearing button up men's shirts instead of tee's and I made good and sure at least one extra button was left undone whenever she looked over my shoulder at my clumsy artwork. A few minutes in the toilets, removing my bra before her class guaranteed her a good view down my top. I heard her breath catch as she saw my tits and I looked up to see her biting her top lip in a very attractive way. Gotcha, I thought. Time to reel her in.

The promised after school activity consisted of a couple of minutes desultory pretence at tidying up, then after we went into the art cupboard, she turned to look at me, her eyes glittering with want.

I didn't speak. I just unbuttoned another two buttons and smirked a bit.

"I...I.. can't" she said, her breath hitching in her throat "You're a pupil, and I'm a teacher Elizabeth"

I smiled again and carried on unbuttoning, until the shirt hung open. Her eyes travelled over my body hungrily.

"So beautiful" she sighed "So perfect"

"Miss? " I said slowly, holding her eyes with mine.

She looked back at me blankly, her body still shaking at what I had just done

"W..what Elizabeth?" she murmured, swallowing thickly and clenching her fists by her sides repeatedly.

I turned and locked the door behind me before spinning back and slipping the shirt off my shoulders onto the floor. I heard her gasp before I looked up at her eyes.

"I'm _really_ good at keeping secrets" I breathed, moving closer to her. She shuddered as I closed the gap and reached for her hand. It felt cool and shook slightly as I raised it to my lips, kissing the back of it gently. Then I pulled it towards me, cupping her hand over my right breast. If she had shook before, this time she shivered as if she had a chill. Her hand squeezed my boob gently and her eyes got even wider.

"Oh God..." she sighed "I could lose... my... job over this" But her hand kept squeezing rhythmically and her eyes never left mine. I don't think her employment prospects bothered her much any more.

I reached over and cupped her much bigger breast in my own hand, squeezing firmly. She groaned deep in her throat and surrendered.

"We'll have to be... quick" she moaned "Someone might come", lifting her left hand to cup my other tit. Her eyes now left mine and looked down at my lips. I swept my tongue across the bottom one, moistening it. Yeah, I though, someone definitely _will_ come...

"Not too quick Miss" I said slyly, and closed the gap completely. Her lips were soft and open, and immediately she slid her tongue into my mouth, moaning again. She smelt intoxicating, vanilla and coconut assaulted my senses. Those big tits pressed against me as I kissed her back. Soon even that wasn't enough and she slid a hand down my belly and into my knickers. I groaned then, as her experienced fingers found me wet and open for her. She found my clit straight away and began to circle it slowly. My knees felt rubbery as she worked inside my underwear. I decided that this new hobby was now my absolute favourite thing in the world.

After she had made me come hard, panting and biting her shoulder I returned the favour, hearing her gasp and moan as I explored under her tight black skirt. No time for anything more fancy this time, that would come later, in her car, in various cupboards, on a deserted beach and eventually, when she abandoned caution completely, in her own bedroom, whilst her husband was at work. I spent many a hot afternoon that late summer thrashing about naked with her on a double bed. She taught me how to please a woman with my tongue, and began my education with various toys. Hayley was the perfect foil to Serge. The one my first male lover, hard bodied and demanding. The other, my first adult female conquest, supple, willing and always compliant.

It ended of course. She wasn't able to keep away from me, and it got dangerous for her. Her husband got suspicious, our head teacher got suspicious, and after one particularly close call when we were almost caught fucking in a cabin on a school trip, she asked for a transfer. One day she was there, the next thing I heard was that she got a move to Newcastle. About as far as you can get from Bristol and still be in England. So that was that.

There followed what Naomi sarcastically calls the 'Effy Lost Years' Drugs, drink, men, women, boys and girls, sometimes in combination, sometimes in multiples. I wanted to experience everything, and as my father said "Try everything once except buggery and Morris Dancing" Well one out of two isn't bad (I never did get the hang of ribbons and hey nonny no's)... I had a ball, but it took its toll. Too many mornings waking up in strange beds, the remains of vodka and lines of cocaine on the table. Looking at my bed partner(s) wearily wondering who and what had fucked me last. I fucked old guys, young boys, women and schoolgirls. If they wanted a piece of Effy Stonem, who was I to refuse? The only condition was my pleasure.

That too had to end, of course. Vodka, cocaine and amphetamines had been replaced by Tequila, E's and stolen Ketamine, and my supposed F1 first years medical training consisted mostly of hard partying nights and sullen, ghost walked days on the wards. Stopping by the staff room every morning to inhale pure oxygen from a cylinder and swallowing industrial quantities of DF118's wasn't a recipe for a successful career, I can promise you. But it was waking up beside yet another random girl which changed everything. I could vaguely remember a sleazy club, shed loads of alcohol and some particularly strong weed, before going to some house party miles from my flat. I woke up with the normal splitting head and fuzzy brain. I tried to make sense of where I was. It looked like a child's bedroom, complete with brown striped blazer and regulation school skirt hanging on the wardrobe ready for today's lessons. I shook my head and groaned. Maybe some kind soul had put me to bed in their kids room when I passed out?

I turned my head on the pillow and looked straight into an amused pair of green eyes. A girl, young, and smiling at me fondly.

"Hi" she said brightly and reached over to hug me tightly. I moaned at the sudden movement, but she must have taken it as something else. She released me and looked into my eyes. Fuck, she looked _young_. Suddenly I had a terrible feeling. I looked over her shoulder at the uniform again. Fuck no, surely not...

She giggled at my agonised expression.

"I don't think we have time for _that_ Effy" she smirked "I thought you were satisfied after last night...we only got to sleep two hours ago"

Then I realised that not only was I sharing a bed with a very young girl...but that we were both completely naked.

" **Fuck**!" I said, leaping out of bed, just managing not to pass out from the sudden movement. "I didn't...we didn't...did we?" I said, hoping she was taking the piss.

She sat up in bed, revealing a pair of pert adolescent tits which matched the uniform on the wardrobe all too perfectly. She blushed.

"Oh yes we did" she giggled prettily again "Several times...it was... _sick_ "

I groaned at the juvenile phrasing...she'd be saying it was 'epic' next.. How old _was_ this kid?

I had to know.

"How...who..." tried incoherently

"Its my aunts place" she said happily "There was a party last night...and you came into my room looking for the toilet after I had gone to bed?"

I had no fucking memory of that at _all_.

"We talked, sitting here in the dark, and I told you that you were really beautiful, and you...well you kissed me...so I kissed you back"

Jesus. I would be locked up for this. I didn't even know the name of this kid I had apparently been fucking all night.

"I know this is going to sound crazy" she smiled "But I think I'm in love with you. I had no _idea_ sex could be that great"

Oh God...it gets worse by the second, I thought grimly. Next thing we are going to be holding hands on the way to Convent School. Perfect.

I looked round the room desperately, one, for my discarded clothes and escape route, the other for something, _anything_ that would tell me her name. Just then, on the dressing table mirror, I spotted a fucking stuffed pony with a sash saying 'Holly' across it. Worth a try, I thought.

"L...look... _Holly?_ " I said, hoping to fuck that wasn't her horses name "I'm going to be really _really_ late for work. (like I was actually going to turn up today) Is there any chance you could find my clothes. I need to get going"

She frowned for a second, and I thought about leaping naked from the window. Anything but a showdown with her no doubt very impressed family when they saw me emerge from their precious child's bedroom with a just fucked look on my face.

"OK" she said finally, jumping out of bed herself. I found myself looking away in embarrassed silence as she pulled her dressing gown off the door hanger and started picking up various items of my clothing from the floor. I didn't trust myself not to barf if I bent over to help, so I let her.

Seconds later I was dressed and ready to make a run for it. Luckily it was early, so when I left the bedroom, having given Holly a totally fictitious mobile number, the hallway and stairs were vacant. I let myself out, spotting the banner over the lounge door as I did. ' _Congratulations on your 15_ _th_ _Birthday Holly_ ' it read.

Jesus, I thought, ignoring the looks from the early morning workers as I jumped on a bus for the City Centre, what a fucking birthday present I gave that little madam...

After that episode, I let myself get rescued by my best friend. Naomi dragged me away from the self destruction, the drugs and the random shags. We'd had a couple of 'friends with benefits' shags at college, but she was better as a friend than a lover and we both knew that.

So the trip to Cornwall was supposed to be my last step in the rehabilitation cycle. A few days of fresh air, sea and sand, and I would be able to face my demons strengthened by friendship and completely addiction free..well potentially.

And then the world wide turd hit the celestial fan. Armageddon. My fucking luck. I sighed and watched Anna breathe gently in her sleep. Oh well..I smirked to myself as she shifted, her legs parting attractively as she moved. Time for another round maybe, I thought. I started working my way down the bed careful not to wake her yet.. Best way in the world to be woken up, I thought, as my head moved between her smooth brown thighs. Nectar of the Gods...

XXX

A few hundred yards away in a small flat above the Post Office, Katie Fitch looked up blankly at the ceiling as Anna's brother snored lustily beside her. She touched her bruised breasts gingerly, wincing at the dull ache. Fuck. Another couple of marks to add to the growing list. Things weren't working out at all as she'd thought they might. Fausto had turned into a bit of a control freak, and she was starting to think her sister had been right about him all along. She had no problems agreeing to most of his demands, even if sometimes they were little painful. But it was getting worse. His insistence that she finish him with her mouth after sex was one thing, it wasn't as if she had a problem with that normally. But lately he had been hurting her as he climaxed...like he was marking her, _owning_ her. Perhaps she needed a chat with Cook or Anna. She dozed fitfully, her brain full of hard words and harder hands.

XXX

Two miles away, off Old Grimsby, a purposeful, low slung grey shape emerged from the autumnal mists of the Irish sea. Almost silently it moved, just the bass throb of a huge diesel engine audible Then it slowed as it reached the entrance to the harbour. The low sounds of urgent commands in Mandarin echoed in the early morning as an anchor chain rattled down. The Chinese are here...


	21. Chapter 21

Naomi

I caught Effy as she crossed the corridor to the fire exit. I knew that 'just fucked' look all too well. Too many drunken and drug fuelled nights out with her when we shared an apartment for that. The next morning seeing her smirk as she left another satisfied customer flat out and comatose. The girl was a sex machine when she wanted to be. Man, boy, woman, girl, all toast if she set her sights on them. Many a confused soul had exited our place with a puzzled smile on their faces, not quite believing what had just happened to them. I had personal knowledge of her many and varied bedroom talents. Frankly she was a mint shag, pure and simple (Not that I would ever let that fact sully Emily's beautiful mind) and although I was never going to be sampling her wares again, at least as long as I inhabited the same universe as Emily Fitch, I could still appreciate the fact that the Effy Stonem's of this world are few and far between. Come to think of it, her value as a hot dyke just went up several degrees of magnitude, seeing as most of the rest of the female population were now circling the atmosphere in microscopic dust form.

But I digress. As I said, I captured her crossing the landing. I didn't bother with asking for a potted history of last night. Unlike my darling Emily, I sleep with one ear open as it was. By the sounds of it, Anna was a very happy bunny now. I just smirked,and Effy smirked back. We shared a look that only people with very happy sex lives can. Sort of 'lottery winner' happy... We had both hit the jackpot, even if she does lust after the unattainable Katie still.

"Good night then Eff? " I tried, but no dice. She just shrugged and said "Peaceful"

Peaceful. Fuck me, I think they're gonna have to rewrite the Oxford Dictionary, if that was the new definition of peaceful. Not that anyone would be doing that for the next century or two...

Just then, as we reached the kitchen in comfortable silence, both intent on getting some Java down our necks before supplies ran out, Jake burst into the room with a look on his face that spelt only one thing...trouble.

" **Chinese** " he said, and after that the whole hotel turned into Camp Bastion after a mortar alert. I raised Cook from his pit, he also had that just fucked look on his face. Jesus, Effy had mown them down like corn last night huh? Jake scurried around getting Emily, Harry and Mauricio (from the cottage) up. And I finally raced across the Post Office courtyard to where presumably Katie and Fausto still slumbered in post coital bliss. The fact that were in full evac mode stopped me from saying anything after I burst in on them, but what I saw certainly wasn't domestic bliss, that's for sure. When I got inside, Katie was sitting on the bed crying, and the lurid marks on her bare arms and upper body definitely weren't love bites. I set my jaw as Fausto glared at me, swearing in Portuguese.

"Interrupting anything?" I said caustically.

He just shrugged and zipped himself up. Thank God I came in now, I thought. An erect cock may come in useful sometimes, but its an ugly fucker to look at, and I had no desire to see this wanker's morning glory.

"Up and out kids" I said briskly. "Chairman Mao is in town, Time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

Fausto certainly didn't get the obscure English references, but Katie did. She looked at me uncertainly for a second, but then jumped out of bed quickly, looking for her clothes. ' _Forgive me father for I have sinned_ ', I told myself as her nakedness temporarily blinded me to her bruises. She was certainly fucking fit. I mean, I love her sister to bits, but Katie had at least a cup size more upstairs, and what's a healthy lesbian to do about unclean thoughts. It's not as if I intended to perv, is it?

I did turn my back as she dressed, but saved a nasty glare for Fausto. I couldn't let it lie, even if we _were_ in imminent danger.

"When we're out of here, and away from the Chinese" I said to him coldly "You and I will be having a chat about boundaries and domestic abuse lover boy"

He just smirked at me dismissively, and went to walk round me to grab Katie's arm. What can I say? Training took over, your honour. I didn't want to disable him permanently. For one thing, left here for the Chinks to discover, he might spill all he knew just to get back at us, before they killed him that is. But some form of temporary pain was in order, I think you will agree?

I stamped downwards hard, catching the front of his shin with my desert boot and finishing up in his ankle. I know from painful experience how agonising that is. The shin strike breaks the skin and gives a lot of instant pain. The blow to the join between the foot and leg isn't instantly as bad, but it fucking hurts for longer. He screamed like a fucking baby, which was what I expected.

Katie went to shout at me, then looked again at my expression. The 'who me' look mixed with genuine puzzlement, usually works at the time, and this was no exception.

"Come on Katie" I said, turning away from the cursing Portuguese, who was busy trying to stop himself screaming long enough to shout at me. Fuck him. "Time to go sugar tits" I said, throwing her a wink. "I'm fucking impressed by that bod. No wonder Effy wants to jump your bones. If I wasn't taken by your lovely sister, I might have a try myself"

She blinked at my comment, but self preservation is a wonderful thing. I knew that remark would be stored away for future reference, but for now, she was moving in all the right directions, stuffing a bag of essentials and making for the door. I think she must have realised how it had looked when I burst in, and she only looked briefly at Fausto as she passed me.

Within ten minutes, everyone was packed up and ready to rumble. We boarded the extra long electric golf cart, which we had kept charged up with the small genny out the back, and threw everything we needed inside the trailer at the back. Harry and Emily got into trailer too, being the smallest of us, and Cook started the motor. Being electric also meant it was almost silent, so not alerting any advance party that there was a vehicle on the road. It was just one small advantage, but we needed everything we could get. We had to get to the boat, which was well hidden in a small cove a mile away, shielded by some rock columns and a fierce rip tide. If we hadn't had Jake with us, it would have been useless, but years of navigating these waters as a boy had taught him everything he needed to know about rough water. Jake had spotted the Chinese fanning out across the island from Old Grimsby, so we had at least 25 minutes more before anyone arrived at our hotel. But that was fucking tight, so we gunned the old cart as fast as its tired old motor would go.

We arrived in 10, and immediately jumped out. We had practised this several times before, Cook and I being as anal as ever about group safety. The boat was fully stocked with supplies, water and fuel, and Jake came here every day to check it was seaworthy. Luckily the weather was with us. By that I don't mean it was flat calm and sunny. Far from it. There was a healthy swell, which made Emily swallow hard when she saw the white-caps, and a fair bit of October sea mist. Perfect for us to slip away. I grinned at Emily's expression, which didn't improve her mood much. I reached into my pack and pulled out a scopolamine patch. Now we were on an island, lots of these were in the deserted chemist, unlike back on the mainland when we sailed the first time. I stuck the patch behind Emily's ear, lifting her hair and kissing the nape of her neck. Not because that was essential to the drugs efficacy, but just because her neck was fucking irresistible. She grinned at my unprofessional interest in her anatomy and forgave me for grinning at her weakness. The patch would keep her happy and upright for up to 24 hours, being slow release, so we should be fine (or dead, my inner demon growled unhelpfully) by then.

Our destination was Ushant (or Oiussant, as the French call it). That's if we manage to slip away from Tresco without being blown out of the water by the destroyer currently on the other side of the island. I was gambling that even if we did appear on their radar, it takes up to an hour to get land-side troops back on board and then get the engine up to speed for a pursuit. A destroyer may be fast, but its still a big ship, compared to ours, and it would have to navigate round the whole island before chasing us. On the open sea of course, we would be toast in no time. Our 14 knots was OK for weekend sailors on our small diesel boat, but even if it was an old destroyer, it would certainly be capable of doing 30 knots, easily outrunning us. They probably wouldn't waste a ship to ship missile on us, but the 100mm deck gun would reduce this slowcoach to matchsticks in seconds. Our only hope was stealth.

Once we were all one board, and Cook flashed me a small grin as Fausto hobbled aboard, favouring his bad leg, Jake started the diesel and we slipped out into the sea.

An hour later, which put us at least 10 miles away from the island, I started to breathe a little easier. Not because we were safe, far from it, but every minute made us a tiny bit safer. The sea was quite rough, which slowed us down to 11 knots, but it was still good progress. Cook and Jake stayed in the wheelhouse, sharing the steerage and poring over the maps. They said it would be an overnight trip, so I settled in the stern next to Katie and Effy, trying to get some rest. Once night came, we would be running without lights, so I knew we would need a watch on all night. Emily was already getting the benefit of the seasickness patch and grinned happily at me as she stood on the small flying bridge above the wheelhouse, watching the horizon. Harry and Anna were entertaining Mauricio, in between trying to cook some hot soup in the galley. Fausto was staring broodingly over the side, still stewing no doubt from my small bit of punishment. I decided then to talk to Cook about it. No point in saving it for later.

Ten minutes later, I slipped out of the wheelhouse after giving Cook the full details. I saw his mouth settle in a hard line when I got to the bit about bruises, and a tiny, almost infinitesimal part of me pitied Fausto. Not for long, just a millisecond. But hey, it proves I'm not a complete robot, huh?

Ten seconds later, Cook emerged and slid a 'friendly' hand round Fausto's shoulder. The guy tried to shake Cook off, but I saw his grip harden, and wisely Fausto complied with the unspoken threat. They spoke for no more than a minute, but when Cook came over to me, I saw Fausto's face and it was naked fear I saw on in.

"What'ja say to him Cookie Boy?" I said quietly as Cook reached me, settling himself on the seat and folding his arms.

"I told him that he had two choices. Ditch Katie before we get to Ushant, gently and gentlemanly like. Or..."

"Or what?" I said innocently, making Cook smile genuinely at my expression,

"Or I would cut off his balls with my tactical knife, slowly and painfully, before throwing him overboard to drown. I think he believed me" he chuckled darkly.

"Would you?" I said, knowing the answer before I heard it.

"In a heartbeat" he said. And do you know what. I believed him too.

XXX

Ten hours later, with the early dawn light illuminating the wave tops as they crashed into us, a huge dark shape grew out of the water in front of us.

"Jesus Christ on a bike" I said under my breath. If Tresco had been a sub tropical paradise, this was like the fucking Falkland Islands, cold forbidding and bleak. The waves were pounding the steep rocks in front of us, sending plumes of cold spray metres into the air. If this was gonna be home for the next few months, we would need more than good luck to save us...


	22. Chapter 22

Emily

I don't know what the fuck has happened over the past 24 hours, but I feel like a person who's come in half way through a private joke. Everyone else seems to know about what's going on but me. Katie is all closed off and sullen. Her and Fausto aren't talking (or shagging) apparently. Cook and my girlfriend are altogether too friendly and conspiratorial for my liking. They keep disappearing into corners (not that there are many on a boat) and talking in hushed tones. Anna seems to be in on it, and Effy, of course, just sits there, taking it all in, and smiling that knowing smile that says she is mistress of the universe as always. Bitch. Jake and Harry are oblivious as usual. He's helping Cook steer the boat, and Harry is making tea and generally being what she is, a fucking star. I'm over the seasickness. The patches Naomi gave me were ace, and I haven't had even a slightly upset stomach, let alone the churning nausea which damn near killed me on the way to Tresco. Just as well, its been fucking rough at times. Jake said the Bay of Biscay area is bad, but 10 foot waves and swirling swells would have finished me for good if my lover hadn't had the foresight to help me out here.

When the island loomed out of the morning darkness, my heart nearly sank into my boots. Fucking Chinese bastards. Tresco was a real paradise compared to this lump of French limestone. As it's getting towards real winter now, I expected to see a change in the climate. But with the nuclear explosions to the north, and the possible discharge of biological weapons too, the weather has gone to shit overnight. Naomi says the winter will be harsh. Dust clouds and radiation will make anything north of us a desert soon enough. Ushant was just a convenient bolt hole while we work out our options. It has the benefit of being largely uninhabited, even when the world was normal. It is hard to land on, and the weather, stuck out here on the very edge of Europe, means its not an attractive place for the Chinese, or whoever to explore or investigate. Perfect, as she said, for us to hunker down for the presumably long winter and wait it out. Our ultimate destination is Madeira, off the North African coast. Cook and Naomi picked it because its remote from the mainland, less likely to be visited than the Canaries, and the climate is good all year round. Trouble is, we've got to get there, and this boat isn't going to cut it. Its barely made this cross island cruise, so open ocean stuff is out of the question. Cook and Naomi both have private pilots licences, and she in particular, with her multi engine flying hours, has the skills to get us out of here. But not yet. Not in the North Atlantic in winter. We have to find a plane first, preferably in a hangar, able to do the 800 mile trip, and also to take us all in one go, because we've agreed that splitting up is a no no. Especially after what happened to Effy back on Tresco. Gang rape isn't something I'm going to volunteer for any time soon.

Anyway. After about 6 fucking wallowing goes at it, which threatened to finally overwhelm my medication, Jake finally gets us past the wave battered rocks and into what passes for a harbour on the south side of this windswept lump of land. The island looks, from the map, like a man with no arms laying on his back. The only realistic landfall is right between its outstretched 'legs'. Cook, of course, made a lot of this, winking at me leerily and saying its probably the first time I've made a bee line for a male crotch in my life. Too fucking right. Confirmed muff muncher me. Cock to me is an ugly fucking piece of gristle that gets hard when you don't need it to, and soft when anyone _does_ want it to stay hard. Totally useless. I think I've proved to Naomi (at least I hope I have) that Emily Fitch, with a certain piece of equipment 'borrowed' from the Customs seizure shed in Tresco, is more than capable of satisfying her fulfilment requirements. We don't need Cook's help any more, thank very much. After I'd given her a proper seeing to the other night with the quaintly named ' _Mandingo 9_ ' strap on, she was quite the convert. I had to wait till she was asleep to get the fucker off my hips. She spent half the night underneath me noisily begging me for more, like she was auditioning for 'Oliver' or something...

So here we are. Ushant. Cook and Jake were running about on deck shouting stuff like 'splice the mainbrace', and 'shiver me timbers' Well, OK, I made that bit up, but you know what I mean. Eventually we stopped engines at the harbour wall and got the fuck off the deck, mostly gratefully. Apart from Fausto, who looked like someone had trapped his dick in the zip of his flies (I wish). I don't like him, and the feeling seems to be mutual. In fact no one seemed to like him apart from Anna, of course, being his sister, and Katie. But it looks like Katie has joined the rest of us, as she hardly looked at him when we got off. Great, now I'll have her hammering my eardrums about his shortcomings (pun intended) for the next decade or so. Every time she dumps a boyfriend, I get chapter and verse about how shit he really was. She never seems to learn that sometimes you just need to move on, forget the bad things and concentrate on what was good about a relationship, even when it's over. Not Katie. I just know I'm gonna get some graphic, not to say pornographic details which are going to make me regret that extra tuna sandwich this afternoon (stop it).

"Right guys" Cook bellows to the shivering, exhausted and bleary eyed group around him "First thing we need is shelter. There is a row of fisherman's cottages a hundred yards up the cove. We'll head there, get the wood fires going, given that is, that the previous occupants have fucked off like everywhere else we've ended up, and bed down for the rest of the day and night. Everyone is fucked after that trip, so, tea, sleep and then a bit of an explore, once this rain and wind ease off. If it ever fucking _does_..." he finishes ominously.

So we trudge up the sandy road and open the first cottage door we get to. Deserted. In goes Anna, Fausto and Mauricio. Job done. I notice Katie keeps to the back of the rest of the group, and doesn't even look at her 'ex' when he walks past her. Right, I think, it's _really_ fucking over then.

Naomi and I took the next one, Jake, Harry and Cook the third and Effy decided to be on her own, until Katie unexpectedly joined her. Weird, after what she's been through, but after Naomi gave me chapter and verse on Effy's shagathon with Cook and Anna, maybe Effy just wants a bit of privacy to ….'entertain' at her leisure, but I never thought Katie would go with her.. Whatever. I'm so tired, I could sleep on a clothes line, so when we've got inside, we drop our tote bags, bung some logs into the stove in the open fire place and spark it into life. There are lots of reasons why I like shacking up with Naomi, most of them naked and unprintable, but the ability to get a fire going effortlessly and immediately is definitely another. Within seconds, the love of my life has a roaring fire going in the wood burning stove which warms the place up in minutes. Although the cottage only has a cold flagstone floor and rickety windows, the warmth soon fills the small kitchen/sitting room nicely. I crashed into a far too comfortable wing backed chair and my head began to nod almost immediately.

I woke up an hour later, still curled on the chair. I was too fucking warm now. I noticed that someone, Naomi presumably, had covered me in a rough woollen blanket, and I threw it off me onto the sofa across the hearth. Naomi was nowhere to be found, which didn't surprise me in the least. Knowing her, she's helping the less wilderness friendly get a fire going and bed down. She's like that, you see. Tough on the outside, but runny like a soft boiled egg inside. Well, maybe that's not a good metaphor, seeing as how her insides are frequently runny for a very different reason, but we'll stop now, huh?

Just then the ledge and braced wooden door bangs open and in comes the object of my undying lust/love.

"Hey babe" she smiles "You needed that snooze, I'm guessing. Tea?"

Tea being the cure for everything but terminal illness or nuclear attack in England, I nodded at her, returning her warm smile.

"Come here you" I said, grinning

"Why" she smirked, arching one of those expressive eyebrows

"Because its been ages since I kissed your face off. Now get over here"

She does, and I do. Lovely. Five minutes later, we're still sucking face and I realise that the old fashioned kettle is singing its fucking head off on the old propane stove in the kitchen area.

"Tea? " I said "Did someone mention tea?"

She giggled and gave my bum a cheeky squeeze.

"I was gonna say, tea, coffee or me?..." she laughed.

"Isn't it possible to have more than one of the above?" I grinned back.

"Coming right up" she chuckled "Everyone else, apart from Cook, who is doing a recce of the area, is bedding down for the rest of the day. Seems like we have some time on our hands Miss Fitch, and I happen to know the double bed upstairs is now aired and ready for occupation...tea in bed then yeah?"

An hour later, sated and drowsy, I cuddled up to my big brave soldier. Not only did she give the best orgasms in the known universe, but she made me feel safe. We may be hundreds of miles from what was left of our homes, and the world may well be going to shit, but at least for today, and hopefully tonight, life was good.

XXX

Two doors down

"Katie, you don't have to sleep on the couch, you silly bitch. I'm not going to jump you in the night. That's unless you want me to?"

Effy smirked again at Katie's disgusted expression. She was starting to realise that Katie's outward homophobia was a bit of an act. Like the general 'fuck off world' expression she carried with her at all times. Underneath, she had all the insecurities and fears that we all carry. It was just very well hidden. Effy knew that Fausto had been mistreating her, and she had her own revenge all plotted out and ready. But right now, she was trying to get Katie to accept that sharing a double bed with her was not the minefield Katie feared. OK, she _wanted_ to jump the Fitch twin's bones, that much was obvious, but even though Katie had been careful to wait until Effy had gone to the bathroom before changing into a onesy and curling up on the couch, the older girl knew about the bruises and the bites, and what Naomi had described as a definite cigarette burn. She knew the other girl was more vulnerable than at any time she had known her, so she just wanted them to be normal around each other.

"Look" she said in exasperation "If you like, _I'll_ sleep on the fucking couch. One of us needs to get a nights sleep!"

"No" Katie said, finally giving in. "It's OK...just keep your wandering hands to yourself, and we'll be sorted" She huffed and slid into the bed as far as humanly possible from Effy, almost falling over the edge. She could feel the bed shaking.

"Are you fucking laughing at me, Stonem?" she growled

"No..."Effy said artlessly "Just having a late night wank before I go to sleep. It relaxes me...you see"

Katie shot up in bed and glared at Effy, who most certainly was _not_ getting herself off, but instead shaking with uncontrolled amusement at her bed friends expression.

"For fucks sake Katie" she said, when her voice could be trusted "I'm not gonna molest you...although I have rarely seen a woman who needs a good seeing to more than you in my entire life, and I'm definitely not going to lay here moaning "Katie", while fingering myself. Get over yourself hun, Your body ain't _that_ special"

Fine" Katie huffed again..."Lets get some sleep then...bitch"

There was a long silence, and Katie started to drift off.

"Katie" Effy said quietly

"What?" Katie groaned...she was just on the verge of dropping off.

"I lied...your body _is_ that special"

"Fuck _off_ Stonem" Katie said flatly, but there was an edge of weary amusement to her tone.

They slept.

XXX

Three doors the other side Anna slept the sleep of the innocent (well, comparatively) with the small form of Mauricio beside her, gently snoring. In the room down stairs, Fausto tried to get to sleep, but the couch was lumpy and his mind was full of bitter thoughts and half formed revenges.

XXX

In the last cottage in the row, Jake slept in the single bed, Harry tossed and turned in her sleep on the put you up, with thoughts of wild eyed, homicidal Chinese sailors and storm tossed water. Cook sat in the overstuffed armchair, by the last glow from the stove, surrounded by local maps and hand written plans and notes. His training and survival instincts were going to be tested a great deal over the next 4 months, whilst the little band of survivors battened down the hatches and got through the winter to come. His last thought as he drifted into an exhausted sleep was "Are we strong enough?"

Outside the wind howled, and the rain turned to sleet, then wet snow. Soon the muddy tracks of the wanderers were covered in thick white. A hundred yards from the sleeping band, hard eyes watched the dim lights of the cottage with more than a little interest. Finally, the figure stood upright, groaning at aching muscles which had seized after so long being inactive. His shadow was long in the briefly glimpsed moonlight, which occasionally broke through the scudding storm clouds. He left, but not for good.


	23. Chapter 23

Naomi

I knew I wouldn't get away with it. Conspiring with Cook and all. Emily has this infallible radar when she knows I'm plotting something. Not that she thinks I am actually shagging Cook any more. I think we've laid that particular ghost to rest, especially after _Mr Mandingo 9"_ came to stay at Mrs and Mrs Campbell's. I walked about like John Wayne for two days after she used it on me the first time. Emily Fitch likes strap ons? Who knew? The jokes I used to share with my non lezzer mates about huge strap ons were purely abstract until now. If Effy had come up with the idea of using one, I would have been totally unsurprised. I mean, she is to shagging what Lionel Messi is to free kicks. Fucking unstoppable. But the previously demure and angelic Emily Fitch bolted onto a large, all too lifelike, black rubber cock? Naah...

But anyway, enough about our late night activities. The said Mr Mandingo is locked away at the moment, and I'm quite glad about it. As an occasional treat, its OK (well more than OK, I suppose, I think I actually blistered the emulsion on the ceiling, last time she screwed me into the mattress with it) But I prefer La Fitches tongue and fingers as regular night time visitors. The door's _always_ open to them, if you know what I mean?

But this mornings dilemma is more prosaic. I'm squashed up in bed with the said Ms Fitch, as per... naked of course. A new bed and very uncertain future do not prevent the old hormones working. A quickie before sleep is pretty much compulsory, so we did the dirty deed very satisfactorily, and then got some well earned rest. I knew Cook would have a fucking huge list of tasks today, so I welcomed the chance to get some quality shut eye. R and R with Ms Fitch was a happy bonus. But when I woke up, she was doing that _thing_ again...the thing where she cups me between the legs in her sleep and holds me hostage for the night. It must be when she's unconscious, because I've asked her about it, and she denies doing it when she's awake. But even spooned behind me, like this, she has one arm under my pillow and the other snaked round me, cupping my...happy place..., rather possessively. It's like she worries it might fall off in the night, and we'll lose it in the sheets. Now my vagina falling off wouldn't just be inconvenient for me. I know she would mourn its loss like no other. But it's not gonna happen, is it? And it makes it rather hard to extricate myself in the morning. Like now, when unlike in the romantic novels Emily likes to read, my first thought on waking is not "I want to shag this girl...again" but more like "Can I remember where the loo is? I desperately need a pee"

Which is why I was slowly and carefully prising her hand off my fanny. Very carefully, I might add. Emily likes my fanny...a whole lot. Now I know some of you Americans think a fanny is actually an arse, but believe me, I know what she was currently cupping, and it wasn't my rosy cheeks...We invented the fucking language, don't you know?

She murmured in her sleep and tightened her grip slightly. I was like trying to get the Alien face grabber off an astronauts mask. The more I struggled, the tighter she gripped. I was in danger of leaving finger marks in a place there should be no fucking finger marks. Thank God she didn't have acid for blood. If I had to resort to cutters, the collateral damage would be horrendous. But I had to get free somehow. So I used my superior strength (yeah, I know, I am such a fucking boy sometimes) and dragged her reluctant hand off me. She moaned a bit, but deep in sleep as she still was, I just got a drowsy frown and then she rolled over and cuddled her own pillow and mine together. No doubt in Emily's subconscious, she was just burrowing between soft thighs, so I left her to the lurid fantasies her mind was currently enjoying and padded on bare feet across the fucking freezing wooden floor to the small bathroom. I grabbed my military parka as I left the bedroom. Jesus it was cold. The difference in temperature between here and Tresco was way more than the latitude suggested. I guessed it was just above freezing here. Back on our lovely, now Oriental island, I think it would have been well into the teens by now. Bastard fucking home robbing Chinese, I thought bitterly, as I sighed in relief on the icy toilet seat. At least one basic bodily function was being satisfied this morning. I could see ice and snow edging the frosted window next to my head, and shivered again as I realised that _this_ was our world now, at least for a few months. Finding transport, a plane if possible, and getting the fuck out of Dodge, was the next priority. I was guessing that Cook was way ahead of me in planning that, seeing as how he didn't have the distraction of a horny/sleepy Emily in his bed last night. Thank God.

Poor old Cook. OK, I knew he had had at least _one_ night of passion since we hooked up together (not with _me_ , the one off in the shower was firmly placed in the evidence box marked 'not to be opened until 2113) No, I meant his threesome with Effy and Anna. I guess that would be enough wanking fantasy material for most guys, so feeling sorry for him was tinged with a bit of 'so what'. But by the looks of the way Effy was working her magic on Katie, after her stupid liaison with Fausto (what a cunt he turned out to be BTW) I knew it was only a matter of time before the elder Fitch succumbed. Effy doesn't do failure, at least when it comes to sex. I swear she could shag a bride on her way up the aisle, and the groom on his way back. But even if they did get it on, it still left the problem of Fausto. It didn't look as if he was taking Cook's advice to cool it. His burning desire for revenge would fester away in this small group. Our own Ronaldo lookalike wasn't used to rejection, and it was only a matter of time before he tried something nasty with either Katie or now Effy. Cook and I had whispered a bit about it on the boat. I was all for a quick solution. Night, a swift knife stroke across the throat and a quiet splash overboard. But Cook wanted to wait until we got settled here. He needed another pair of strong arms, for the moment at least. We both agreed that he had to go eventually. Anna would be a problem. It was her brother after all, shit that he was. So it had to be done silently, quickly and somewhere that his body wouldn't be found. Sounds brutal, I know, but the survival of the group was the issue, not one individual. Especially when that individual had already demonstrated his willingness to use violence on one of our more valuable members. If Katie and Effy got together publicly, I could see how his thirst for revenge would be a major issue for us. We didn't need a bad apple in the barrel. But how to do it?

I got up stiffly, sitting here on the loo with the temperature outside hitting the bottom of the thermometer wasn't making things better. I washed my hands and crossed back into the bedroom. Sleeping Beauty was still unconscious, so I left her covered over with the duck down quilt. I splashed some water on my face and cleaned my teeth over the small guest wash-basin. Dressing fast, I pulled my parka back over my combats and thick cable knit green sweater. Booted and suited, I ran fingers through my bed hair and went downstairs. I filled the large kettle, and put it over the popping blue flames of the bottled gas cooker. By the time it screamed 'ready', Emily would be awake. One of her other attributes was the inability to spend more than a few minutes in bed if I left her in it alone. Her brain seemed to register my absence automatically. The kettle would just seal the deal.

I opened the door, cursing its creak, and looked out onto the winter wonderland outside. Snow had stopped falling, but there was a thick layer, about 6" deep, all over the open courtyard between the cottages. Opposite us was a community centre of some sort, although my schoolgirl French wasn't up to translating much of the sign outside. I knew Anna spoke fluent French, as well as English and her native Portuguese, so that was another reason for us to keep her onside. Unlike her macho fucking brother, whose only attributes were shagging and domestic violence.

I knocked quietly at Cooks cottage and he opened the door immediately. The smell of old farts and sweaty socks filled my nostrils from within the small room.

"Fucking hell Cook, you dirty bastard" I said "Open a fucking window, will you? The stink in here would shame a pigsty"

He just grinned broadly, but didn't stop me as I crossed the room with fingers over my nose, and opened the kitchen window wide. After 30 seconds, the air was at least breathable again. Living with Cook would be like trying to open a holiday home on Mars, I thought. The view might be interesting, but the atmosphere would kill you in seconds. Being a soldier, I had suffered enough barrack room behaviour, even from the female soldiers of my troop, but Cook was an environmental threat all on his own. Mr Global Warming 2013. The Greenhouse Gas King. Gaseous Clay...OK, OK I've stopped punning now...

"OK" I said, still wrinkling my nose at remembered odours "Plan of action Cookie Boy?"

We sat opposite each other around the scrubbed wood kitchen table. At least the coffee that he had brewed was uncontaminated. I sipped the scalding liquid gratefully. I fucking _love_ good, hot coffee. It's right up there, as a guilty secret, with using a cotton bud in my ears, or watching one Emily Fitch self pleasure herself to orgasm. Pure, unadulterated pleasure.

"Right blondie" he said in a businesslike way, ignoring my eye roll at the blondie jibe. "Last night, while you had your ears blocked by the adorable Emily's thighs, I was making plans"

Again I ignored his crude innuendo. He was too fucking close to the truth for that anyway. Except it was her ears being blocked...

"First things first. We check fuel supplies. If this weather is typical of what it's gonna be like until the new year, we need over a tonne of coal and or wood per cottage. That means transport. I've checked outside, and there's a tractor with a trailer in the barn across the square. Enough diesel, if we're lucky enough to find wood and coal, to do the job. We need two labourers and a driver. You sort that out, OK?"

I nodded. Seemed like a sensible idea.

"Second, we need to recce the area properly, before the cold sets in permanently. There's no fresh produce available now the snows here, so we need a group to collect tins, dried food, water and fuel. I think we need to put Effy in charge there, because she knows about medical stuff as well, and one of is bound to get sick during the winter. We only bought a limited amount of that sort of stuff with us, so new supplies are gonna be essential"

He paused and swallowed some coffee before continuing.

"Security wise, there's not much chance of defending this patch against anything military. But short of that, we should be OK. I think we should keep the bulk of the weapons on board the 'Skylark'. For one, it means they're more secure, and I think we need to keep the available pop guns to a minimum, especially with that swivel hipped waiter glowering at us all for depriving him of his tiny punch-bag"

Cook looked up at me, and I could see my own cold anger reflected in his eyes.

"Course, thats only a short term solution anyway. Changed your mind about his long term existence prospects Naoms?"

I shook my head definitely. No fucking way was Fausto breathing air any longer than absolutely necessary. The death penalty had been announced. He just hadn't been around when it had been handed down.

"OK then" he said flatly "Fausto goes then, sooner rather than later. I'll work something out. In the meantime, he doesn't get a personal weapon, and he doesn't get left alone with anyone female, apart from his fucking sister, right?"

I nodded again, then spoke up.

"You know about Effy and Katie?" I said, knowing he would have suspected anyway. That pairing off last night was a trifle obvious.

"Looks like the only muff round here is being munched by the sisterhood" he said gloomily "What's a bloke gotta do to get his dick damp nowadays? I guessed Effy had her eye on Katie, but after last night...well, I know her almost as well as you. Katie was toast as soon as she closed the door behind her, yeah?"

I smiled grimly "Yep. Effy gets what Effy wants. But I have the feeling Katie is a bit more of a willing victim than we give credit for. You can't turn a straight girl bent, no matter how much you try. And believe me, I've tried.."

"What, _Katie_?" Cook spluttered, spilling coffee down his already stained shirt. "Fuck me Naoms, didn't figure you going for the complete Fitch set...how was it...the twin thing?"

"Fuck off pervert" I laughed "I have no interest in munching Katie's muff. Her sister is plenty woman enough for me. I meant I've tried getting it on with straight girls in the past. One decent shag and its either tears in the morning, or a sudden case of bunnies boiling. No thanks. I'll stick to my own kind"

"Pity you never kept photos" he said mournfully, "Looks like my right hand is gonna be calloused by spring"

I spluttered this time, wasting a perfectly good mouthful of Brazilian (keep your mind out of your knickers please)

"Who said I didn't Cook?" I teased "Plenty of girls have found their way onto my sim card. It's just that _you'll_ never see them in action..."

"Fuck off Blondie" Cook grinned "Thats just fucking cruel"

We laughed a bit more, then got down to more serious planning. Emily found us an hour later. She came in, wearing one of my thick fisherman's sweaters, which reached her knees. She looked like a lost fawn with bed hair and a blanket wrapped round her too. The wellies completed the waif picture.

"Thought I'd find you here" she said, her mouth a pout "Conspiring with Cook again?"

I nodded at the pile of A4 paper on the kitchen table covered in both our handwriting.

"Just planning our survival babes" I said easily "Sit down, and I'll get you a coffee"

She shook her head and smiled at me thinly

"No thanks hun. Smells like a fucking stable in here. Have you _heard_ of a shower Cook?"

I rolled my eyes, making sure I wasn't looking at Emily when I did. I stood up and hugged her. She stiffened for a second, but when I nuzzled her neck, stifled a small giggle. She was OK, just a bit miffed I'd left her in bed. I kissed her soft mouth firmly, showing her _and_ Cook what she needed me to show. She hugged me back and left after shooting Cook a hard glance.

"5 minutes Naoms...OK?" she smirked "We've got time for a bit more R & R before you're back on duty, huh?"

I grinned stupidly at my hands after she left and Cook bellowed with laughter.

"Fucking hard case Campbell, pussy whipped by a tiny fawn" he laughed. I threw the remains of my cup over him, but he still chuckled through the drops of cold coffee on his unshaven chin.

"Fawn maybe Cook" I grinned "But as you'll never find out personally, I'll just put on record the fact that that little fawn leaves me totally exhausted and grinning like a fool, night after night in our bed. No guy has _ever_ done that for me, mate...and that includes present company"

Cooks mouth hung open at that and I knew I had scored a beauty. One nil.

We calmed down after that and worked out some more logistics before I went back to the cottage to find out if Emily was serious about that extra R & R.

She was, and the subsequent smile on my face lasted till lunchtime. I don't think the owners of that holiday cottage had quite that purpose in mind for the kitchen table...

XXX

Three hours later, we had things organised. Anna, Katie and Emily went with Jake in the 4x4 we found parked outside the small grocers. It had diesel enough for the day, and we hooked up a small trailer to it, ready for the looting we needed to do in the area. They kept side arms and one shotgun with them, just in case.

Cook me and Fausto went further afield. We took the tractor and a bigger trailer. The pump by the hardware store was full of red diesel, as far as I could see, peering into the underground tank, so we filled the Massey Ferguson up to the brim, took axes and saws along with side-arms and an assault rifle. Just in case. Fausto was unhappy about the division of labour, but fuck him. Cook and I were in charge, and he got no answer to his whines. Effy decided to stay with Harry and Mauricio for the day. She'd found a huge fuck off stew pan, and enough ingredients to make the daddy of all meat stews. We had enough veg and some frozen lamb cuts from the boats freezer, so after she had raided the small chemists for as much medicine as she could carry, her and Harry set about making sure we would be well fed when we got back.

It was a hard day. We sawed, we chopped and we loaded. By lunchtime the trailer was full, and we drove back, sweaty despite the cold and deposited it in a big pile behind the row of cottages. Then we went back for another load. By the time the light was fading, we had a couple of tonnes of timber, which we covered with a tarpaulin. Then we saw a big shed next to the single feed barn on the road out. Looking inside, more out of curiosity than expectation, we found something which made the whole day worthwhile. A 3000 litre tank of blue diesel and a pile up to the roof of heating coal. Looked like with the logs and other stuff, we would be OK for months for fuel.

Tired, dirty and footsore, the three of us walked back into the little hamlet from where we had stashed the trailer and walked into the community hall, where the lights burned bright and we could smell, even from outside, the delicious aroma of fresh lamb stew. I should have checked. I should have been more alert. Fuck, _one_ of us should have seen it coming, but we didn't.

As we crashed through the double doors, I wondered for a stupid moment, why everyone was sitting in a row at the side of the room, like fucking store dummies. For a blind second, it felt like we were coming into a surprise birthday party. I almost expected everyone to jump up and blow party poppers at us. But they didn't. Instead, as we stumbled inside they looked at us like we were the fools that we were. Opposite them stood a man. A man with long white hair and beard. A man with a fucking great shotgun in his hands, pointed at the row of frightened hostages opposite.

For a second or two there was silence. |Then the man turned to us and motioned us, without words, across the room, towards our fellow fugitives. I heard Cook mumble in my ear before the door crashed behind us, and a voice, in broken English told us to shut up and do as we were told. I didn't look back, the cold steel of the shotgun on my neck was enough to freeze the words in my throat. I nudged Cook, and he carried on walking over to where the others sat in silence.

We turned then, and saw that the other guy was much younger, probably Jakes age. There was a striking resemblance in their eyes, both very dark and brown. I thought immediately, father and son. Although the older guy was probably in his 60's they were definitely closely related. But they knew what they were doing with weapons, and that was a more immediate concern than their family resemblance.

I looked across at Anna, and motioned for her to speak. She was the only one with even rudimentary French, so she was our best hope of talking us out of this. I knew, with a soldiers detachment under fire, that with two single barrel shotguns, which weren't pump action, they would only take two of us out if the contact became hot, but two was enough, if Cook and I were their first targets. Effy and Katie were fast and accurate with a pistol, but then I noticed the row of personal weapons lined up on the counter, and realised that option was out of the question.

Anna spoke in fast and excited French. The older guy was good, I give him that. While the younger guy kept his eyes and gun trained on the others, he made sure both Cook and I were covered by the gun in his hand. At this range, he would possibly wound one of us and kill the other, but it would be enough. I have been in a close contact fire fight, in the killing rooms at Hereford, and the shock and noise of enclosed gunfire disables most people for valuable seconds. Enough seconds for a practised shooter to reload and kill again. I couldn't take that chance. We needed Anna to try the diplomatic solution before Cook or I tried anything more direct.

But they made a mistake. A stupid, basic mistake. Whilst Anna was trying to argue our case with Mr Silver Hair and he was ignoring her, the younger guy started to answer her in rapid angry French. I saw the older guy frown in annoyance and he looked away from us for a second. I've seen Cook in action, and its frightening sometimes. The big soft lump I was teasing and throwing coffee over this morning is a fucking nightmare to anyone threatening us. In a split second, he was behind our young gunman, and his SAS knife was tight against his throat. Suddenly the quiet room was full of hysterical shouts and commands. Cook was shouting at the older guy to put down his weapon. I knew that we were seconds from a fucking disaster here. Silver hair was shouting back at Anna, swinging his gun back and forward between the two groups. No one was backing off. That was bad. Then Anna took a step towards the older guy. I saw his finger tighten on the trigger and braced myself for the roar of the shotgun. I saw the fear in Anna's eyes as she saw it too. In car crashes, time slows down...well, it does in action too. I've seen men freeze in fear, but I've also seen the most unlikely of heroes spring into aggressive action in that split second when time crawls. There was a blur of movement next to me and as the trigger reached its sweet spot and sent the firing pin into the back of the cartridge, Fausto crossed in front of me and into the line of fire.

When someone is hit with a shotgun, lots of things happen. At reasonably close range, like now, the shot hasn't much time to spread. A virtual bullet of heavy 12 gauge pellets speed at well over the sound barrier towards a soft target. By the time the boom of the explosion reaches your ears, the shot is through the target. The pellets hit Fausto in the side, just above his waist. The thick sheepskin of his jacket immediately showed a blackened hole about the size of a man's fist. Unfortunately, by the time the shot had reached his other hip, it was already expanding another inch or so, tearing a hole the size of a large grapefruit in his ribs. No one survives a direct hit with a scatter gun at that range. With a high velocity round, he might have made it. I saw, with eyes that were already ranging my shot on his attacker, that he was already dead. His brain just hadn't noticed yet.

My Glock came out with practised ease. The first shot I put into the older guys knee, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes, writhing and cursing onto the floor. I stepped over to him, as Cook held his struggling son in an iron grip. The younger guys shotgun was already on the floor, knocked away by Cook as the detonation faded. I saw that old Silver Hair wasn't finished yet. Even though his weapon had been discharged, he was still trying to bring it to bear on me. Training kicks in then. If you can't disable safely, kill, it says in the manual. Well I didn't kill. I knew that the weapon was useless without another round in the breech, but I was angry. Not hot, wild angry, but cold and deadly. I kicked the gun from his hands, stepped hard on his right arm until it was flat on the floor and fired a careful round through his outstretched palm. He screamed then, Lots of nerve endings in the hand, you see. Our wood be murderer suddenly lost all interest in attacking me, and a lot more in his ruined hand. I grabbed the shotgun off the floor and threw it over the counter, out of harms way.

Suddenly I was back in the room, as it were. I saw the row of faces looking at me as if I was an alien from outer space. I'd seen that look before. Civilians, caught up in a war zone, stunned and brutalised by the sight of battle close up. War isn't pretty, it isn't noble, and it certainly isn't cinematic. Its brutal, its bloody, and its full of screams and misery.

I looked at Cook, and saw the battle light just fading from his face too. We were alike. Different to the others. Even Emily, as she leapt up and tried to help the screaming Anna comfort poor Fausto, gave me a sideways look which said "I don't actually know you at all, do I?"

XXX

An hour later, and we had the full story.. Our group had been surprised, just like us. The two farmers had turned up just as dinner was being served to the others. Complete surprise achieved. Just needed us to complete the set. Fucking amateurs, all of us, I thought bitterly.

Fausto died slowly and horribly, on the floor of the hut, blood pooling on the floor from his mortal wound. We comforted him as best we could, but despite Anna's desperate pleas to us, there was no saving him. She looked into his eyes as he died, whispering in Portuguese. Soft, anguished words. He may have been a nasty little shit, but he died trying to save his sister. At least that was something good and noble. Katie cried, Harry sobbed, and Effy just stared at the little group around him on the floor, saying nothing, seeing everything, as always. Emily trembled and looked at me with sad, puzzled eyes.

Our two would be captors were hog tied and deposited in the woodshed for the night. It was fucking cold out there. Too bad. We would deal with them later. Fausto breathed his last, and we took him outside too, but put him in a spare cottage, on an unused couch. He was white with the loss of blood before his heart stopped, he looked about 16.. We covered him with a single thin sheet. The cold of the approaching night would mask his decomposition. Tomorrow was soon enough for a proper burial. Anna was part distraught, part homicidal. She was all for a summary execution, but Cook persuaded her to wait. The two likely lads weren't going anywhere tonight. I was good at knots and making sure people stay where they're put. They might be massively uncomfortable, but they were out of the wind, and dry. They'd survive. Even with bullet wounds. Whether that would be the case by tomorrow night was a group decision

The lamb stew was wasted of course. Pity. I was fucking starving after that little drama. I know, I know. Cold hearted, right?

So, everyone went to bed. Katie and Effy went off hand in hand. I suppose even Katie had forgotten to put on her mask of indifference and commitment phobia after tonight. Good. She needed Effy tonight. Almost as much as Effy needed her. Harry and Jake took Anna and Mauricio back with them. Same thing applied, I guess. Anna would need to cry and mourn with someone. Mauricio slept the sleep of the innocent in his mothers arms. The little lad was short one uncle, but he had his mum.

I went back to our cottage with Ems. We didn't speak much. Just stripped and got into bed. We lay there for a while, side by side. I didn't try to comfort her. I just didn't know how she would react. Eventually, I felt the bed shake as she trembled and cried softly. She turned over and moulded herself up against my side, I wrapped her in my arms and whispered gentle, meaningless words of love into her ear. Eventually she slept.

I didn't. Tomorrow was going to be a bitch.


	24. Chapter 24

Naomi

I woke up first that cold morning. Which is quite normal. What _wasn't_ normal was the sleeping position of one Ms Emily Fitch. I know I moan about it sometimes, but the patented Fitch 'crotch grip' _is_ mildly addictive, especially when it's applied nightly, a bit like a poultice...

Emily was sleeping, facing away, on the other side of the bed, about as far away from yours truly as is possible in a small double bed. I laid there for a moment, contemplating what it meant. I was veering between feeling a bit bemused, and fucking outright angry. I _thought_ I knew what all this was about, but as I've never been one to duck things, I did the only thing I could think of to resolve it. I slid over until I was pressed against the semi naked body of my girlfriend. I started by kissing her neck softly, pulling her hair away so I could get to the very edge of her hairline. A place I knew normally pressed _all_ the right buttons with La Fitch. She stirred in her sleep then, and wiggled her delicious bottom a bit into my stomach... So far, so good then, I thought. I slid a hand round her waist, where the tee had ridden up in the night, and then up her smooth stomach, to where her full breast lay. Squeezing it gently in my palm, I began to gently stroke her nipple with my thumb and forefinger. If things went as normal, within seconds of me starting, she would respond to this morning ritual by turning over and asking for more...

But not _this_ morning, apparently. I heard a small grunt of annoyance and she slurred sleepily "Do you mind if we don't, Naomi?"

Now, I have been sharing a bed with Emily Fitch for a good while now, and I can honestly say that the only time she says no to morning sex is if there is something earth shattering happening to her. Apart from my tongue between her legs, that is.. So my morning grouch meter was clanging away like a fire alarm. Not good.

"Is this about last night, Emily" I said sourly into her ear "Because if you're actually _punishing_ me for doing my job, and looking out for the group, I think you need a reality check, babe"

She spun round in bed and glared at me for a second, before answering coldly.

"Does it _always_ have to be about you, Naomi?" she said in a hard voice "Maybe I just don't feel like sex today, after what happened last night, ever considered that?"

Now I know words spoken in anger are almost always regretted later, but since when have _I_ had an 'off' switch when it comes down to swapping taunts?

"Fine" I hissed " I get it. Big bad Naomi is in trouble for being too hard hearted and cold. Beats me why you keep me around at all Emily. Surely there's someone..fluffier, less forceful. Oh no...can't can you? There seems to be a shortage of fit lesbians at the moment. Apocalypse and all that?"

I flung the covers off both of us, and hunted for my boots, avoiding looking at her as I did. Eventually, a small voice from inside the newly replaced quilt spoke

"Maybe you're right Naomi. Maybe I am too soft. But sometimes... I don't think I even know you at all..."

Once again, ' _mouth engaged...brain in neutral_ ' Naomi appeared on cue.

"And maybe you never will Emily" I said shortly "I'm going out to the woodshed, to deal with the two would be rapist/murderers now. "Feel free to write to the papers about it, I'm sure the agony aunts will love it"

I sat down again on the bed to lace my boots, then decided to have one last try.

I sighed heavily. This was all I needed after yesterdays cluster fuck. Falling out with the one person who I wanted, no _needed_ more than anything to be completely on my side.

"Emily..." I said in a softer voice. "Lets not fight. I know that side of my personality is a bit scary. But I only want to keep you all safe...like Cook and I did with Katie when..."

If it was possible to kick your own arse while sitting down, I would have done right then. The old Fitch twin radar went straight to battle stations, Defcon 1. Bollocks.

"What _about_ Katie?" she said tightly, sitting bolt upright and fixing me with a cold stare.

Bollocking bollocks, I thought. _Nice_ one Naomi...

And so it all came out, all the gruesome Fausto/Katie details. Me discovering Fausto hurting Katie on the morning we left Tresco. My revenge shin kick. Cooks 'words of advice' and all that followed after. I knew while I was lamely apologising for not telling her straight away, it was utterly pointless. If she was pissed off before, she was scarily angry now.

"So, let me get this right, Naomi" she said quietly...too quietly for my fried nerves " My twin _sister_ was being physically and mentally abused by that _shit_ on a daily basis. You and Cook decided, as per fucking usual, to deal with it yourselves, not involving the 'little people' including her cunting _**SISTER?**_...And you _still_ wonder why I think you don't trust me to be a grown up?"

Now the only time Emily uses the 'c' word is when I'm actually inside her, so now I knew I was in big trouble.

I mumbled something unconvincing, which she dismissed with a shake of her head, then glared at me some more. God, those eyes could kill at 20 paces.

"I need some time to decide what I do about 'us' she said, her voice catching on the last word. "I thought we'd got _past_ all this bullshit. Maybe I really don't know you at all. You certainly don't know _me_ , thats for sure"

She sighed and laid down again, pulling the quilt up around her neck protectively.

I looked down at her as she laid there, regarding me with big, reproachful eyes. Momentarily, I felt a shit for being so hard and lets face it, dishonest with her. But then my anger returned with a vengeance as she turned sideways, closing her eyes, dismissing me like I was fucking irrelevant.

"I'll sleep in the spare room from now on Emily" I growled fiercely " You and your conscience enjoy the double bed together...for now. Maybe we'll find you a nice quiet French girl today, who can be all reflective and compassionate with you while you trail roses round the door. I'll just get on with saving our arses. At least I'll be good for _something_ "

She didn't say anything as I swept out of the room, so angry, I kicked a big hole in the plaster on my way down stairs. Way to start a fucking day, huh?

XXX

In the end, Cookie boy came to the rescue, although he didn't even know he had. His new plan was simple. After we dealt with the two captives, and did a full recce of the island, making sure we got no more nasty surprises, he wanted to send an exploratory team over to the mainland, to gather information and to see if there were other people and better supplies to be had. It had to be tonight. The weather was sure to get worse with winter fast approaching, so I volunteered straight away.

Emily and I definitely needed some space to do some thinking. I would take Jake with me. He could pilot the boat and was becoming a real asset combat wise. It was settled there and then. Part of me felt guilty all over again for deciding something so big without speaking to Emily first. But as she wasn't talking to me anyhow, I reasoned, it didn't matter much and anyway, I'm a stubborn, emotionless bitch, haven't you heard?

Two hours later, Cook, Jake and I had sketched out a plan of action between us. The old guy we'd left in the woodshed overnight was in bad shape, apparently. My shot to the kneecap had done more muscle damage than I thought. Effy gave him a brief medical examination, and then told us that infection had already set in. Without hospital treatment, which he wasn't gonna get here, he was basically fucked.

We grouped round him as he lay in the pile of straw we had placed him on. He was hostile and defensive when Anna tried to talk to him about why they had ambushed us. Cook decided there and then to do a bit of unsubtle persuasion, seeing as Anna wasn't getting anywhere. Pressing on his damaged knee probably isn't in the Geneva Convention, but it got instant results. Between him and his tearful son, we eventually found out that they were smallholders from a mile or so inland of our base. Left behind somehow after the other islanders were evacuated by their own French regular troops, they had hidden out until everyone else had left. The old boy sounded a bit of a bastard actually, shouting down his son when he began to give us more information than his father was comfortable with, so I pulled the kid into another part of the shed as Cook carried on interrogating his old man. The kids name was Serge, and I used the old soft soap routine on him, He'd seen bad cop, now I was good cop. It got results. Turned out they were a family of four. The father, Pierre, whose wife had died several years ago, Serge, who was 18 and on leave from his national service when it all went to shit, a sister, two years older than Serge, called Clemence who acted as mother, and a younger sister, Emilie, who was just turned 17. The two girls were still holed up in their farmhouse in the middle of Ushant, presumably waiting for these two to return. It seemed the father had decided the island wasn't big enough to support us all, after he spotted us moving in, so he had planned to send us back to sea at gunpoint, killing anyone who resisted his 'suggestion'.

After Cook and I had talked, we got the rest of the group together in the community centre and gave them the facts. We had a vote in the end, and decided to give the kid a chance to redeem himself. Anna was all for executing the father out of hand, but as Effy said in that neutral tone of hers, nature would take care of _that_ problem for us within days. We put the old guy in a spare cottage, hands tied to a bedpost and made him as comfortable as possible, dosing him up with morphine for the pain. Strangely enough, his son wasn't exactly Mr Concerned about his old man's impending demise. I'm guessing there wasn't a lot of paternal or parental love in the background there.

We gave Serge a simple ultimatum. Help us, be a useful member of our group, and we would protect him and his sisters, or be dumped on the nearest bit of land to us to fend for himself and his siblings. No contest. He almost nodded his head off. An hour after that, Cook, Jake and Effy came back with two new members of the Post Apocalypse Club. Clemence and Emilie were both slim dark and beautiful. The older girl turned out to be a trainee midwife, which I supposed might come in useful one day, but not for me, thats for fucking sure. Emilie was very shy, almost silent. A bit like Effy had been when we had been at middle school, but without the scary perception. They were both dressed almost formally in long skirts and button up blouses, and I could see straight away that the old man's rule had been as hard on them as his attitude to us.

Me and my Emily had sort of avoided each other all day. She immediately took her young namesake under her wing. Clucking over her like a protective hen, I got the odd reproachful look, but that was about it. By the time I remembered I hadn't even told her I was going away, it was time for Jake and me to leave.

I went over to our cottage, to find her feeding Emilie some of the reheated lamb stew in our kitchen. I pushed down the feeling of irrational jealousy which surged up my throat, as I saw her smile affectionately at the girl

"Can I talk to you Ems?" I said quietly " Its kind of important"

She gave me a sidelong look, whilst heaping another ladle full of stew into Emilie's bowl and shrugged non committally.

"I thought we'd said everything that mattered this morning" she said.

I sighed...I seemed to be doing a lot of _that_ lately

"Look Emily. I've got to go somewhere. Tonight. Me and Jake are going across to the mainland to see what's happening to the rest of the world. We can't keep on burying our heads in the sand, hoping things will just be OK. We have to know where is safe, and where isn't...and anyway, I think you said something about needing time to think?"

I paused, and she looked at me with a mixture of sadness and anger in her pretty eyes.

"Still making decisions without involving me, then?" she said bitterly

"I guess so" I said defensively. This definitely wasn't how I wanted our goodbye to go...

"Wish me luck?" I said sadly "I could really do with a Fitch hug before I go, babe"

She looked up into my eyes steadily and shook her head.

"You'll be fine Naomi" she said, stepping back behind the table " You always are"

My throat closed up as a snide retort threatened to escape my lips. Nice.

"Right. Well, I guess that tells me everything I need to know about our relationship Emily. Have a nice time without me then" I looked at her for another long moment, but she stayed the other side of the table, staring at me with those unforgiving eyes. The little French girl looked back and forth between us as we talked. I guessed even though she didn't understand the language, the atmosphere was telling its own tales.

I heard her say something to Emily as I turned and left, but the constriction in my throat, and the pounding of the soon to be epic headache in my skull drowned it out completely. Well fuck you too, Emily Fitch, I said to myself as I stomped across the snow covered courtyard.

Ten minutes later, Jake and I were on board, doing some last minute checks and stowing our weapons. I decided we needed an assortment, as we had no idea what we were going to be up against on the French mainland. Brittany was a hundred miles of stormy Celtic Sea away, I settled on Glock 19's for side-arms. My little hold out piece, a snub nosed 38 revolver sat snugly in my ankle holster, as always. Long arms were both Heckler and Koch police issue semi automatics with Maglite torches attached and a natty sawn off pump action shotgun. Cook had moaned like a little boy when I suggested sawing off the barrel. I had laughed at his annoyance. Not much call for a £4000 handmade shotgun nowadays. Better used for crowd control. OK, not much use against anyone with a minim or RPG, but the addition of a small box of army issue fragmentation grenades made me feel better. If we got into a situation where we needed to scatter a crowd of uglys, they and the shotgun would work fine. Soon enough, I had made all the excuses I had in my brain for not casting off. No sign of Emily.

Obviously Emily _wasn't_ coming to see me off. With a last brief hug from Cook and Effy for both of us, we tossed the aft line ashore and drifted out a few yards before Jake fired up the twin diesels. Soon Ushant was a dark blur against the pale winter sky. We had decided to depart at dusk, knowing the cold winter night would hide us from all but the most sophisticated surveillance.

We motored steadily down the shipping lane towards Brittany. I should have got some sleep, but thoughts of Emily kept my brain spinning all night, as Jake expertly steered us towards our destination

By morning, the thin black line on the horizon had become a definite shape. Land ahoy then.

We had left Ushant, planning to be away no more than 5 days. A day each way sailing, with 3 days max onshore to explore, hunt for information and loot a few medical and hard to get supplies.

I don't know which General actually said it, but his comment "No battle plan survives the first contact with the enemy" was fucking spot on. Unfortunately for us.

We docked in a silent and suitably remote harbour, gliding in with the engine on idle. There were no lights, no sign of human activity landside.

We took our side arms, a Heckler and the pump action sawn off with us when we got off our boat. We moored it somewhere unobtrusive, right along the harbour wall, and made sure our army green back packs were stuffed with enough ammunition, food packs and water purification tablets to last a fortnight at least. We also took the short burst comms pack, so in dire emergency only, we could alert Cook and the others of impending trouble for them. It made for heavy fucking Bergen's, but needs must.

Within moments of tying our old crate up at the Conquet dock, it all went to shit. No people were in sight at first, but after we had secured the boat and tramped up the dusty road towards the old Brittany village, a small ' _welcome_ ' party turned out, coming from the direction of the town hall. Ha fucking ha...It wasn't the mayor offering us the freedom of the town.

No, I mean welcome as in " _Bonjour Mlle Campbell. You look rather well fed and_ _juicy, can I take a slice of your posterior for Sunday lunch?_ " sort of thing. The few pathetic, skinny and sickly looking inhabitants were more like extras in one of those interminable Zombie flicks Hollywood never tires of churning out. Personally, the only one I liked was Shaun of the Dead, but I don't think a few well aimed Rhianna and One Direction albums were going to deter this lot. I have no French, beyond " _Voulez vou_ _s_ _couche avec moi, ce soire_ " But I don't think that would have cut it today. I unslung the single barrel pump action sawn off we had brought with us, and motioned threateningly at them, No fucking go. I think the poor bastards were past rational debate, even if I had the linguistic skills to start one. They were starving, in rags and desperate. I shot the first guy when he got within three yards. That rusty machete he was carrying wasn't very welcoming. He dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, blood pumping freely from his stomach. I had 5 more cartridges in the gun, but one was enough, this time anyway. His three friends got the hint. They fucked off, carrying our groaning ex 'meet and greeter' with them, He looked a bit stringy to me, but I think their casserole ingredients were limited nowadays. I doubted he would go to waste.

That was our first encounter with what remained of the French population. It wasn't our last. It looked like Cooks guess was right. There were still some people around. But they were starving, frightened and completely abandoned by their government, who had probably holed up in bunkers not dissimilar to our old Cornish home from home, planning to come out when it had all calmed down. Trouble was, most of the bunkers were just irradiated dust by now, and by the looks of the countryside as we retreated from the town, down the long winding coast road, some sort of chemical or biological attack had also taken place, Dead animals were left to rot, birds by the thousand covered the ground, emaciated and dried out by the roadside and covering fields. It was fucking Armageddon, writ large. Only one thing to do, we thought. Find somewhere relatively safe to hole up for the day, send a scrambled message to Cook via the short burst satcom, then get the fuck out under cover of darkness. There was nothing here to steal or learn.

Big mistake, it turned out. We should have cut our losses, then and there and made for the boat, wasting as many people who got in our way as we could.

Instead we pressed on for a bit, hoping things would look better further inland.

Walking for the best part of two miles, we finally saw this old, dilapidated house, on its own in the middle of about 2 acres of scrub and dunes, overlooking the grey sea. Plenty of eyesight room to spot ambushers, I thought. We'll camp out here. Put down some trip wires with grenade welcome poppers attached, just in case someone turned up carrying a menu with 'Jake and Campbell au Gratin' as plat de jour.

The front door was double locked and had a big fuck off chain and padlock across the twin handles. It showed the occupants weren't keen on visitors, especially when they were out. I scouted round the back while Jake kept guard at the front with the Heckler and some long range field glasses he had found in a chandlers on Tresco. I eventually found a small pantry window on the ground floor which wasn't locked properly. Too small for me, but Jake was thin and wiry. Just the job. Once he was in, he opened one of the side sash windows enough for me to crawl in, unbarring the wooden shutters from inside. A creeping sense of unease was making my skin prickle, and there was a very funny smell in there. Blame tiredness, blame the need to get inside and out of sight somewhere quick, but lets be honest, it was fucking careless, especially for a trained special ops grunt. I should have avoided this place like the plague. Fucking dick that I am...Making mistakes gets you killed, and I was starting to make a habit of it.

XXX

 _Emily_

 _I actually missed the boat by less than a minute. When I got to the dock, Cook was standing there looking out to sea. As the light faded, you could just see the outline of our little boat, as it crawled out of the harbour, but not the figures of Naomi and Jake. My heart dropped like an icy stone into the pit of my stomach as I realised I was too late. Cook heard me walking up behind him and turned to look at me._

 _The look wasn't encouraging._

 _"Late again, little Fitch" he said seriously " Becoming a bit of a habit, mate...How many times are you going to do this?"_

 _"Do what?" I murmured, knowing exactly what he meant_

 _"Let her set off into danger, without telling her that you love her?"_

 _"I...I do love her Cook...more than anything. She knows that" I said, not even convincing myself._

 _"Does she?" he said "Does she **really**? Seems to me, and I'm just making conversation here, that you somehow blame her for protecting you...protecting us all. This isn't going to be a fluffy adventure kid, with us whizzer chums swapping ginger beer and ghost stories round the camp fire... people have died out there... in their millions. Lots more are going to...slowly and fucking horribly. Whatever Naomi does...whatever I do, has only one purpose. To keep us alive. Sometimes you might feel excluded. Sorry about that. You might not have noticed, but the Guardian is out of print lately. Bleeding hearts and wringing hands won't save us now... I guess what I'm trying to say is that that 'cold and brutal' woman out there" he waved into the distance "is possibly the only reason we might get through this thing alive. Question is, are you going to be there with her...with us?"_

 _Thats definitely the longest statement I had ever heard Cook make. If possible, it made me feel even shittier and selfish than I already did. He was right, of course. I had let her leave, without even a gentle kiss or a hug goodbye. It suddenly hit me that our last words together might turn out be angry, hurtful ones. My throat closed up, and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. Cook regarded me silently for a moment, then spoke slowly and deliberately._

 _"If I were you Emily... I'd pray she comes back alive and well. I've told her I love her, Effy's told her she loves her, and she knows that me and Eff will always be there for her, no matter what"_

" _Is your conscience that clear?"_

 _Now the tears came in earnest. I started crying quietly. All through my sobbing, Cook just stood there silently, his eyes on me dispassionately._

 _"I'm so s...sorry" I cried " So sorry for letting her down...for letting you all down"_

 _"Lets hope you get to say that in person, Emilio babe" he said sadly " It's gonna be a fucking long 5 days until you can"_

 _I promised myself then and there, even as I cried for my lost love, that when she came back home, I would make it up to her. Get the fuck over myself and my smug little suburban ways and be the person...the sort of partner... she deserved, But first, of course, she had to get back safe. I've never been much of a prayer, but now was as good a time as any to start, I suppose._

XXX

Naomi.

Once we got properly inside the old house, we checked out the two storey building scrupulously. Jake upstairs with his Glock in front of him, just as my lessons had taught him. Lightly bended knees, head swivelling constantly, finger brushing, but not gripping the fast action trigger. He was taking to it like a pro, and I just hoped I could keep him alive long enough to complete his close combat education.

I checked the ground floor thoroughly. That rotten smell was much worse down here, and I wrinkled my nose in distaste at the foetid odour. It smelt like Cook had stored all his sweaty socks and jockeys in one stinking pile. As I approached the farm style kitchen, with its big, blackened inglenook fireplace and solid fuel range cooker, another rank stench hit my nostrils. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up like bristles when I recognised it. I knew **that** fucking smell. In Baghdad and Kabul.. Peshawar and Mogadishu. .burning human flesh. Over there it was usually the result of car bombs and suicide jockeys. Here, it could only mean one thing.

Cannibalism.

I approached the battered cooker with real fear, my steps getting smaller and more reluctant as I got closer. There was a brown stained metal stew pan on the hob. Peering in with great reluctance, the sight that greeted me made my stomach heave immediately. A human arm...resting on the inside, half cooked, charred. I couldn't hold my breakfast in any longer. Turning away, I threw up over the table. Now my own vomit added to the cornucopia of noxious odours filling the house. Straightening up and wiping my mouth, I noticed a cellar door in the opposite wall to the kitchen window. The smell of unwashed bodies was much stronger there, but now I already knew what I would find down there. No one needed to draw me a fucking map. Whoever owned this shit hole was keeping human captives, and fucking farming them for edible body parts. Jesus H Christ on a bike...Had things got _that_ bad, so soon?

When Jake got downstairs from his exploration, indicating silently that we were alone, I quietly brought him up to date on what I had found without sparing any of the details. He had to know.

"Why is this happening Naomi?" he said in a hollow voice "Fucking _eating_ each other?"

"Because the veneer of civilisation we wear like a suit of armour, mate, is very fucking thin. There's nothing left to eat, no crops, no livestock..." I growled "Take away governments, police and all the nice tidy rules we rely on..and people revert to savages pretty damned quickly. Thats why _I'm_ so hard on people, No ones gonna give us a break my friend. We're going to have to hack a new life out of this fucked up world, piece by miserable piece, and things like this just make me more determined to keep us all safe, and away from people capable of doing...this"

Something changed in our favourite boy that morning. Something was lost, and I was sad to see it go. His innocence. I could see it on his face already.

Now we had two simple choices. Leave immediately, or release the poor souls from the cellar, _then_ leave immediately. Trouble was, things were taken out of our hands almost straight after. As we stood in the kitchen debating the choice, I saw in the corner of my eye, movement from outside. Someone was coming...and it wasn't the fucking Avon lady.

There were four of them in the end, shuffling up the unmade dirt road towards the house. An older guy, maybe 60, all in black, wearing a thick beanie and a red scarf round his throat. Beside him, a woman, probably in her late forties, but it was hard to tell. Even at this range, I could see they were all filthy and ragged. I mean _really_ filthy. Grimed in dirt and with sweat covered faces until they were almost androgynous. Behind the two adults were two younger figures, probably in their late teens. Both as filthy and dirt encrusted as the adults. Behind _them,_ in leg chains, were what looked like a mother and son, obviously recently captured. They were stripped to grey underwear and fresh blood covered the bottom halves of their skinny bodies. It looked like the Addams Family had enjoyed a bit of R and R before they brought their new victims home for slaughter. I gritted my teeth and waited...not long now. They were about 35 yards away when I first saw them, which probably gave us ten seconds warning, It was enough.

I motioned to Jake to watch the kitchen door. I knew the front door was locked and bolted, and I wasn't gonna give Mr and Mrs Hannibal Lecter any time at all to repent their evil ways. I pumped a round into the shortened shotgun and waited. Hearing the chain rattle through the metal door handles, I took a deep breath and held it. This would take calmness and precision. I had plenty of both on hand. As the double doors swung open and two figures started to walk in, I stepped forward one pace and tightened my finger on the trigger.

 _Blast_... pump... _blast_... pump... _blast_... pump... _blast_.

A shotgun is shockingly loud in a confined space, but I don't think my targets cared any more.

Four very surprised faces looked up at the sky as the echoes and smoke cleared. Four very dead bad guys crumpled on the wide verandah. The two would be fresh victims behind them just stared at me dumbly in shock. I'd seen people like this before... in war zones. They were so traumatised by their capture and impending certain death, even seeing their torturers killed in front of their eyes didn't register.

Jake was still manning his OP, which made me thank my lucky stars I had spent all that time on Tresco getting him up to speed on combat. He was a fucking rock. I would find out later how much.

We dragged the bad guys round the rear of the old house and dumped them in an old shed. Food for the crows, thats if there were any crows left alive. Then we set about releasing the poor creatures from the cellar.

XXX

 _Emily_

 _Its been four days now, and I'm getting more anxious by the hour. Cook already told me that we'd hear nothing till they got back, because they had decided that radio silence was preferable to being eavesdropped on by our Oriental friends. But I had this awful feeling Naomi was in big trouble. If it hadn't have been for Emilie taking up my time, I might have gone mad. OK, we could only communicate in broken English and even worse French, but she needed a real friend, and to be honest, it was kind of nice to have someone depend on me, rather than the other way around. I cooked for her and dressed her in some of my own clothes and she helped out with getting wood and coal in for the stove and fire. We rubbed along pretty well. Which was a relief, because the little romance that my sister seemed to have struck up with Effy had gone to shit already. I had a screaming row with Katie over her secrecy about Fausto, and then she dropped the bombshell over sleeping with Effy. I nearly passed out with shock. After all the shit she gave me about muff munching, and mooning over Naomi, my so called straight sister turned out to have rainbow preferences herself. But unfortunately, the affair seemed to be over before it had properly begun. The reason? Simple. The reason was tall, dark haired and called Serge. Katie was busily priming him to be the next Fitch victim. Little glances, hair twirling, generally flirting like crazy. I could see the effect it was having on him. She was deadly at this game, and she knew it. But I could also see the effect it was having on Effy, and it wasn't pretty. She walked around hollow eyed and haunted most of the time. Fucking Katie and her mind games. She never seemed to learn._

 _As a side issue, I noticed Cook was watching Katie's antics with a less than indulgent eye too. I knew he had a real soft spot for Eff, almost as much as he had for Naomi, and I could see trouble ahead for both of us Fitches... It hadn't been long ago we were almost marooned on the mainland for upsetting the group... What with me pissing off Naomi, and Katie giving Eff the cold shoulder, we were treading on **very** thin ice here._

 _But then, suddenly, I had a new problem... all of my own. You see, I quite liked being a surrogate sister for Emilie, and being with her day after day was not exactly a hardship. But the last couple of nights, I had woken up with her in bed with me. Don't get me wrong, I didn't wake with her hand in my knickers, it wasn't like that, I groggily asked her what she was doing, she told me she'd had a nightmare. Fair enough, I thought, who hasn't these past crazy months? But then the next night, she's there again when I wake in the morning. I tried to tell her it was inappropriate, but I think my explanation about my relationship status with Naomi got lost in translation. And to be honest, she looked so pathetic, I gave in. Stupid Emily, huh?_

 _So now I seem to have acquired a new, permanent bed partner. Trouble is its not my actual lover. I suppose I should have just locked my bedroom door and insisted she stay in her own room, but like I said, there wasn't anything sexual about what she was doing, it was purely a comfort thing. She carried on sneaking in, and I carried on letting her._

XXX

Naomi

When I clipped the Maglite to the barrel of the Heckler, I knew what I was about to witness would be beyond horrible. But I don't think even the most vivid imagination could have conjured up what I did see when I got to the bottom of the creaky cellar steps in that house. It was really, really cold down there, and a small voice in my head nagged at me that meat keeps better chilled...Jesus... The bright beam of my torch illuminated a scene straight from the worst sort of slash horror film. There were at least 4 adults and several children chained upright to the back wall. Filthy with dirt and their own waste, they shielded their eyes against my harsh torch beam, but made no move towards me. They were passive, resigned. They must have heard the repeated boom of my 12 gauge, even down here, but I suppose after what they had witnessed before and during their captivity, nothing shocked them any more. The children were just giving out a low keening sound and hugging themselves with stick thin arms. What sort of hell had the world turned into, I thought bitterly. Was this the future for our little band too? Either turning into victims or mutilators.

OK, I'd done my fair share of wilful murder these past few months. But it was murder with a reason. Murder with some small humanity attached. If this was modern day France, what about England or Germany, or the North Americas? The world had reverted to the dark ages...no fuck that, Neanderthal times..Eat, sleep, fuck, kill.

Jake and I freed the two men and women carefully, one of us keeping a gun on them all the time, Then I noticed another woman on a bench to the side of the freezing cellar. She turned over towards me from her face down position, and I jumped back with fresh shock. She was a big woman, rolls of fat across her stomach and thighs, probably 18 stone or more...except as she turned and looked up at me with hollow, empty eyes, I could see that her whole left forearm was missing. severed with a sharp knife by the looks of it. I realised with dull horror that the thing in the cooking pot upstairs belonged to her...

We managed to free them all, even the mutilated woman and the chained new victims, but I doubt we did them any real favours in the end. We gave them some reasonably clean clothing from one of the bedrooms upstairs to cover themselves with and spared a couple of tins of corned beef, chilli beans and some dried fruit from our packs, which they all wolfed down immediately, snarling at each other if anyone got too close. But as they left the house, stumbling, looking around like the hunted creatures they were, I knew I was condemning them to more of the same. There were no kind hearts or Samaritans left alive out there. Just wolves and sheep. And they were definitely sheep. The crops were all dead in the fields, livestock had been killed and eaten in the first few months, and I had no doubt that every shop and supermarket from here to eternity was looted and bare. Coming over here had been pointless, Humanity was literally eating itself alive, We would have to go back to our happy little band and hope that we could find a small corner of the world to hide in until the madness passed, if that ever happened.

But of course, the old saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" is true . After we left the house, burning fiercely, because I wasn't leaving that hell hole intact, we got within a half mile of the coast, back towards our boat and safety, when I heard a thin whirring sound. I turned towards it, just in time to feel a terrible pain in my right leg. I looked down and saw a thick red line, slashing across my right thigh. As I opened my mouth to shout a warning, I saw another missile flash across my vision, burying itself in the bark of a tree a metre to my right, Luckily for us both, Jake was alert and in action already.

I heard the angry chatter of his Heckler, and two skinny guys dropped from the trees fifty yards in front of us. I ignored the incredible throbbing pain from my leg, and swung my own gun in front of me, giving short bursts at each ten degrees of firing arc. Another attacker rose from the long grass pointing a cross bow at me, and my next burst nearly cut him in half. Jake and I both crouched down, making the pain in my thigh scream at me. I knew the arrow had just failed to impale me, but by the amount of blood staining my combats, I needed to staunch it soon, or the lights would be going out for Naomi Campbell quickly...

Ten minutes later, with Jakes help, we had got out of the wood and found somewhere to attend to my wound. No one else had come out of the trees to attack, and I thought bitterly that I was a bit old to be playing Robin fucking Hood. The arrow had cut cleanly through my combats, scoring an inch deep gash across my upper thigh. It hurt like a bitch and when Jake had shown me where he wanted us to hole up, I nearly laughed, despite the pain. A fucking water tower? Just what I needed, a nice, easy 40 foot climb up a rickety ladder...

But he got me up there. Bless him. Not overly dignified, I'll give you that. I tried climbing in front of him, using my upper body strength (thank God I kept up the exercises) to pull me hand over hand, just using my good leg to balance. But half way up, I stalled. My arms were on fire, and I was in danger of losing my grip. Jakes solution was simple but effective...oh, and _very_ humiliating. He stuck his cropped head between my legs and took most of my weight on his shoulders, pushing me upwards until we came out onto the platform under the actual water tank. It wasn't very comfortable, and it wasn't going to be a long term solution, but for a temporary lie up point, it would do.

"Jake" I breathed heavily, as he let me collapse onto the concrete sub floor "Next time you want to get your head between a woman's legs, its usually polite to ask her to dinner first?"

We giggled like school kids at that. It took my mind of the awful pain in my leg for a few seconds anyway.

"Probably the only chance I'll ever get with you Naomi" he laughed "Given you prefer the other team... as it were" And waggled his fucking tongue, cheeky little fucker.

We laughed again, this time quieter, realising we weren't safe yet, not by a long way.

"OK" he said, coming over all efficient and businesslike. "First we take a look at that leg, and get you sorted, then we decide our options, right?"

"Spoken like a real storm trooper" I grinned,despite the pain shooting through my leg. "Nice to see the old Campbell training is kicking in"

He grinned back and opened his pack, pulling out a NATO field dressing pack and unfolding it. Inside were morphine shots, wound clips, bandages and antiseptic. I knew it was going to hurt like a bitch, so I looked up at the underside of the tower and gripped my jacket with both hands as he worked. He sprayed the antiseptic directly into the wound after first jabbing me with the one of several morphine injections I would need. The pain lessened, but as soon as the antiseptic bit, I almost screamed out loud. Fuck, that _hurt_. He compressed the wound and applied a couple of clips to hold the skin together. The gash was about 6 inches long and I knew if we got out of this situation alive, I would be able to add one more significant scar to my collection. Jesus, I thought, at this rate I'll look like a map of the fucking Underground by the time I'm 30...assuming I live that long, of course.

Applying the compression bandage over a lint pad, he closed off the wound neatly. We both knew I wouldn't be walking anywhere on that leg for a couple of days now. We were stuck.

The next 24 hours were not the nicest I had ever experienced to put it mildly. Despite the immediate antiseptic dressing, I soon began to feel light headed, and when Jake took my temperature, it was high. He dosed me up on more morphine and Narcan, which worked against the morphine's tendency to suppress breathing. I also swallowed a couple of Paramol's which eased the ache even more, but more importantly, lowered my temperature to reasonable levels. After that, it was just some broad spectrum antibiotic jabs and sleep, thats all anyone could do.

When I woke up on the second morning, I was shivering uncontrollably. Jake was looking at me with serious eyes. I knew exactly what he was thinking. I would have been doing the same if the positions were reversed. Would I be able to travel? If not, should he leave me behind? I know it sounds brutal, but in that sort of situation, these things have to be considered.

He smiled at me thinly and raised an eyebrow. I looked back at him from inside my warmish sleeping bag and tried a smile of my own.

"I guess its decision time Jake" I said slowly "We can't just sit up here and wait it out. My leg is slowly getting better, but time is slipping away. You need to go scout out the area. See if the boats still OK and we can get to it. Then, maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to hobble with you. In any case, staying up here isn't an option for both of us. There are still bad guys about, so I'm no fucking use whatsoever at the moment. Do the right thing Jake"

He nodded, and I was glad he didn't try to argue. This was no time for sentiment. He stood up quickly, rummaged in the medipack, and gave me another jab of antibiotics. Then he brewed a small tinnie of tea, which we shared. Breaking a chocolate bar in half, we sat and ate it in comfortable silence, both deep in our own thoughts. He was turning out quite the trooper, our Jake. I felt better knowing that, even if everything else was turning to shit faster than an X Factor winners career.

Within minutes, he was ready. No point in long goodbyes. I shrugged amiably when he tried to make me more comfortable. There isn't much comfort in a cold concrete floor, even through a down sleeping bag, but I thanked him for trying.

"Just get there and get back safe, OK?" I said urgently "And Jake?"...he turned round just as he was about to climb down the ladder

"If you get there, and it's impossible to get back to me. Do the right thing. Take the boat and go back to Ushant. Tell Cook we tried, but it's no good over here... and I'm ...gone. I don't want any half arsed rescue attempts, risking more lives. If the worst happens, and any of those scavenger packs find me...well, I have enough rounds in the pack to waste quite a few. I'll save a nice 9mm steel jacket for me, just in case"

His eyes filled with tears as he looked back at me, body now half hidden by the edge of the platform.

"Fuck off Naomi..." he said tightly " I'm coming back for you. I still haven't given up on getting another go between your sexy thighs"

I laughed so hard, I nearly opened the wound.

"Fuck you right back" I chuckled "If you get me out of this alive, I'll just have to close my eyes and think of England...you might just _get_ your wish kid. Its a hell of a way to pay off a debt, but I'll consider it...possibly"

His quiet laughter choked a bit as he went down the ladder, but at least he carried on.

That day and night I spent up on that cold platform was the longest period of my entire life. I tried to sleep, even taking an extra dose of morphine to help, but I was getting immune to its effect, and I just ended up taking more Narcan to counter the side effects. In the end, I gave up trying and listened to the sounds of the night. Being 40 feet up has its advantages. I could hear screams and shouts in the far distance, but tried to block them out. Obviously the jungle creatures were out and about. I made sure my Glock was fully loaded and close to hand. Same with the shotgun. Jake had taken the Heckler, so he would have a sporting chance if he got jumped.

Next day dawned clear and cold. I could see my breath in the still morning air. I crawled out of the bag and wrapped myself in it as I peered over the edge. We were on the edge of a large ploughed field, next to some scrub land and a couple of small, leaf free elms. No sign of anyone in the distance. I could see all around me, if I wanted, so I was pretty happy I could safely have a leak. Ever tried having a pee with a heavily bandaged thigh on top of a water tower? No? You haven't lived. I think I got first prize comfortably in the 'Miss Ungainly 2013' competition. If Emily Fitch could see me now, I thought... just before realising what I'd said to myself and indulging in a bit of solitary misery all over again. I'd done little else but think about her since we'd been away, but this morning, knowing she was waking up under the same bright winter sky, sort of brought it home to me. I missed her so much. Her eyes, her smile and that perfect, indefinable Emily smell she had. Sweet, heady and utterly addictive. Why do I have to be such a fucking idiot, I cursed myself. If I hadn't been such a gung ho Soldier Sam, volunteering for this shit mission, I could be with her now, waking up in our cosy bed with only one thing on my mind, sex with Emily, instead of shivering and wounded on top of a French water tower surrounded by homicidal locals with questionable table manners.

Just then I heard the unmistakeable sound of an engine. I craned my neck and listened hard. Yep. It was coming this way. A motorcycle by the sounds of it. I thought all the mechanical forms of transport would be useless by now. Petrol wasn't exactly being delivered to forecourts any more, was it?

But I was right. As the growl got closer, I grabbed my shotgun in one hand and put the Glock between my legs, facing the direction of the sound. If it turned out to be a local, I could stay quiet up here and hope he went past. If he got inquisitive, the last thing he would see would be the big black barrel pointing his way...then goodnight sweetheart. I hoped to fuck he went past. I was getting tired of killing.

The sound got even closer, and I pumped a round into the barrel. Then it cut out completely, about 50 yards from the tree line. I looked hard but I couldn't see anyone coming this way. I steadied my breathing and waited.

"Naomi?" I heard from below the tower

"Jake...?" I said, giddy with happiness at the sound of his voice

"Your carriage awaits" he chuckled "get your big lazy arse down here, we have _horsepower_!"

He'd found a big brawny BMW RG1200 off roader in a farm yard, covered with tarpaulin. Bless the old German efficiency and build quality. Once he found the keys and checked the full petrol tank, the bike started on the button. It even had panniers, Thank you indeed God.

In fact he came up to meet me, because we needed most of the equipment to stay alive, but I actually kissed him, which made him blush like a convent schoolgirl finding a copy of Nuts. But it was totally worth his embarrassment. Sadly the news he brought wasn't all good. Our boat was gone. Totalled and looted within hours of us leaving it. Obviously we didn't hide it well enough. Whatever, we were fucked without it. Bike or no bike, we needed something to get us back to Ushant, or this whole trip would be even more of a disaster than it already was. Then it came to me. We were probably less than 25 km from Brest. Something nagged at my tired brain for a moment or two, and then it flashed into my mind like a lottery win. Brest!... Jacques Allaire, pilot training in Canada, two years ago. The Securite Civile...of course. Stupid fucker that I am. We were good mates on that training module. He tried to fuck me of course, he was French, after all, but I was just going into my 100% gay phase then, so he settled for friendship in the end, after a couple of tries.

But he _had_ told me after a drunken night out in Montreal, about a secret hangar at Brest airport, separate from the civil aviation side, where the Securite kept an aircraft, but not just _any_ old aircraft...a Bombardier 415. And the plane we had been training on in Quebec was a fucking Bombardier 415. Made in Canada, but used all over the world mainly for fire fighting. But it's other use was Air Sea Rescue. And they had one at Brest! Now I remembered...

"Right mate" I said "I know where we're going now, and I just hope we're lucky for once, instead of ending up in another cluster fuck. We're off to Brest Airport"

His puzzled look was replaced with genuine hope when I told him the story.

With the minimum of fuss and the maximum haste, we stowed everything we could carry in one Bergen. I was in no state to drive the fucking bike, so I would have to be the passenger, and load carrier. We strapped the Heckler to the tank and I kept the scatter gun on my lap. We loaded as much as we could in the side panniers and rear box before Jake climbed on. I gingerly followed him, wincing at the stress on my wound as I slung my leg over it. Why did they make these things so high, I muttered, before realising what a fucking stupid thing that was to complain about.

Three miles later, speeding along a deserted A road, I started to feel better. Yes, my thigh still hurt like fuck, but the fever was gone, and although I still felt weak as a kitten after all the laying about, we had somewhere to go. Something to plan.

It took us 24 hours to get there in the end. Mainly because we had to abandon the road a dozen times on the way. Wrecked cars, burned out lorries and a couple of bullet riddled check points, made us ultra cautious. It was easier to camp out in the woods overnight when we got to within a mile of the airport. Time enough to watch for any activity around the terminal. I had no idea where the hangar was, but I couldn't see well enough in the growing darkness to be sure anyway.

Next morning, we started the bike and rode slowly down to the chain link fence. I chopped through it with my army cutters and we inched through on the Beamer. We could have gone through the gate, I suppose, but the chances of anyone spotting us was much higher there. Add to that the possibility that any military presence would concentrate on the easy access points made my caution necessary.

In the end, I needn't have worried. Not a soul to be seen anywhere. I guessed that the terminal itself would be looted out, and the commercial planes would be in a similar state. We skirted the deserted passenger area and headed for a long, low building on the far perimeter, across the runway. Once we got close, I knew I was right. The building was that same old institutional green I had been used to most of my adult life. OK, the doors were securely locked and bolted, but I'm a special forces soldier, didn't they tell you? A bit of plastique, kept in a fucking Tupperware container in my Bergen, would you believe, two wires, a fuse and... Bob's your ... _very_ noisy Uncle.

Actually, the explosion was small and defined. If you had been listening for it, and you knew what plastic explosive sounded like, you would understand. But the remoteness and isolation of the building helped. Jake slid open the still smoking green hangar doors, which slid easily apart, revealing...exactly what my tired and hopeful eyes wanted to see. A bright yellow and red Securite Civile Air Sea Rescue Bombardier 415. I almost kissed the fucking thing. Not only was it big enough to carry all of us, and by that I mean everyone on Ushant, but being converted meant we had a shed load of cargo space too. The Fire version had two tanks meant for storing scooped up water for forest fire and stuff. But the ASR version was full of avionics and extra accommodation. Fucking cosmic. All we needed to do was get it up in the air now.

While Jake stayed on guard outside, in case our little firework display attracted hungry locals, I did some cursory pre flight checks. I thanked the gods who looked over French ground crews, because not only did she come alive when I used the battery start, but the twin fuel gauges immediately flicked to full. Two lovely fat tanks of Jet A...which gave us a range of over 1400 miles.

Half an hour later, I was inching out of the hangar on slow prop rotation. When the plane got to the taxiway, I waited impatiently for Jake to jump on board and close up the crew door. Fuck the proper preflight's, I thought. All the instruments were green, and we had a shed load of fuel. Lets get this baby up in the air, where there was a comforting lack of hungry locals.

We rumbled along the taxiway, watching anxiously to either side for bow and arrow merchants, but the early dawn revealed no other visitors to Brest Airport..

I braked gently at the end of the runway until the big bird swayed on its undercarriage. This was a plane designed to be stable, reliable and manoeuvrable. It was just about the perfect birthday present for yours truly. If you could shag an aircraft, I would be under it in seconds...

Jake sat beside me and helped with the rudder pedals. My thigh was still stiff and painful, and this plane had a well known tendency to roll a bit if you weren't firm with it. I gave him instructions and he followed them to the letter.

Soon enough I pushed forward the two throttles past the détente and the two turbo props roared healthily. The plane tugged at its brakes impatiently as I waited for the revs to hit maximum. We'd probably only get one chance at this, so I wanted all the power I could get. Releasing the brakes, she leapt forward like an Olympic sprinter. I grinned to myself as the plane gathered pace rapidly, one hundred yards, three hundred yards, five hundred yards. The scenery of poor scorched Northern France blurred to the sides of us as we reached take off speed. I checked the flaps and trim one more time.

"Rotate" I said automatically, although Jake hadn't a fucking clue what I was on about. I pulled back the yoke and our beautiful yellow and red bird leapt into the air effortlessly. I pulled the undercarriage lever up and heard the satisfying thud as it retracted. France dropped away from us, and I moved the stick over, watching her bank away from Brest.

"Home James" I said giddily, and we laughed stupidly for over a minute. Next stop Ushant, and... Emily... What could be better?

XXX

 _Emily_

 _I shifted in bed irritably. Emile was taking up far too much room for my liking as per usual. It was fucking too early to get up, only just daylight, but her arms and legs seemed to be magnetically attracted to mine. I pushed her away, but within minutes she was back behind me, spooning me and murmuring in her sleep. Fuck it, if she's gonna invade my space like this, I promised myself, she can sleep in the other room tonight. Its bad enough Naomi and Jake being days overdue. I'd seen the looks Effy and Cook had been exchanging, the longer it went on, but now I had to put up with this little French leech every night. I yawned as I looked at my small Timex on the side table, only fucking 7 am...maybe I could get another hour...I slept_

 _It was the tiniest noise, but it still woke me. A step on the stairs. Who the fuck, my sleep fuddled brain just had time to say before the bedroom door creaked open and light flooded into the room from the landing. A figure stood there with a smile on its face. A figure I knew intimately. The smile stayed there as she looked at the bed, with me in it. But not just me in it, of course._

" _E...Emily..." I heard..."What the f...?"_

 _Too late I realised that the sleeping body of Emilie was firmly wrapped round mine. I stared in horror at Naomi's face, the smile now gone and a look of shock and utter dismay replacing it._

" _Oh thats just... fucking... **great** " she said coldly "Welcome home Naomi...all is forgiven...obviously"_

 _The bang of the door as it closed woke Emilie, who blinked groggily and unwrapped herself from round me slowly. I dropped my head back onto the pillow and groaned in frustration. Jesus H Christ on a bike. How the fuck do I talk my way out of **this** one?_


	25. Chapter 25

Effy

The first bang on the door made me jump up in bed like I'd been shot. It was still far too early... I could see by the thin cold light from my bedroom window. Another day in paradise, I thought grimly. The second bang got me out of bed in a hurry. No Katie next to me, of course. I guess she got her Carnival prize then. Her spare clothes were still hanging in the wardrobe, but I'm willing to bet whatever she was wearing last night, as she was hanging on every word of broken English dropping from Serge's mouth, is now lying on another bedroom floor. She seems to want to punish me, fuck knows what for. OK, I have been a bit of a sex pest recently, if you look at it from her point of view. But it's not like I hog tied and ravished her, is it?

I may have initiated the first seduction, but what about the two other times that night, let alone the morning shag and that time when we were supposed to be scavenging for supplies? I don't think Cook meant ' _find_ _an empty cottage and fuck each other senseless on a strangers bed'_ when he suggested we team up. But virtually as soon as Serge showed an interest in her...or her perky tits, more accurately, she has behaved like a cat on heat. They couldn't have been more obvious about disappearing together last night. No prizes for guessing who's getting their pipes cleaned this cold and damp morning...and it's not Elizabeth Stonem.

Anyway, enough about my sad non-affair with the older Fitch. With Naomi and Jake still MIA, we are all a little bit more vulnerable these days. Emily seems oblivious to the fact that the younger French girl we rescued has a massive crush on her. She's been so intent on mothering Emilie, that she's missed the signs completely. I saw Cook giving cold and calculating looks at both Fitch sisters yesterday, when we were eating. He might be warm and cuddly with us most of the time, but I know from past experience that he can turn icy and professional in a moment, especially if he thinks 'his' girls are being hurt in any way. And by that, I mean me and Naoms. We've always been his priority, and he's never made any bones about it.

I don't think anything has actually happened...yet...between the two Emily's, but I have recent, bittersweet experience of how things can 'develop' when two healthy and bi curious females share a home and even more, a bed. I see danger ahead if and when Naomi gets back. She doesn't like to share...

I mumbled to myself grumpily as I stomped downstairs in my looted pj's. Probably a hung over Katie, post morning shag, looking for a breakfast, I thought gloomily as I pulled back the hefty bolts Cook and Harry had put on all our external doors. We didn't need any more shotgun surprises at night...

I opened the creaky door, a cutting remark ready on my lips for little miss stop out, but the words instantly froze in my throat when I saw who it was.

" _Naomi_?" I choked..."Oh _God_ hun, its so fucking good to see you!"

Then I saw her grim expression and the fresh tear tracks on her cheeks. I almost didn't need to look over her shoulder to see Emily and her little shadow standing in the doorway opposite in their night clothes, to understand what had just happened. Naomi had obviously gone there first. That wouldn't have been pretty, or comfortable for my best friend. I ignored Emily's shouted plea for me to stop her, and grabbed Naomi by the lapels of her filthy and torn army tunic.

"Inside... _now_ " I said forcefully, and bundled her past me into the kitchen. I stared at Emily's tearful, despairing face for a long moment, before running my finger across my throat, stifling her no doubt desperate request for Naomi to listen to her. No time for that fuckery now. By her appearance, and I don't mean the tears, I guessed my best friend had suffered a whole fucking lot on the mainland. And now she was back to ...this clusterfuck.

I walked in after Naomi, into the small kitchen, throwing a few bits of kindling and some fresh coal on the still glowing overnight embers. Within seconds, the heat from the revived blaze started warming us both.

"God babe...nothing personal...but you look like shit..." I said, less than diplomatically.

Naomi looked up at me from her seated position by the fireplace and scowled.

"I've been better Eff, I'm not gonna lie to you. What with being shot at, chased by cannibals, spending three days up in an abandoned water tower after catching one of Friar Tucks fucking arrows in the leg, before finally getting back to find my cunting..., fucking... _girlfriend_..cosying up in bed with some French tart...well, lets just say I've had better vacations. Tell you what...shall we go to Club Med next year, just for a change?"

I've always loved Naomi's gallows humour, but I caught the catch in her voice when she said the word girlfriend, and I knew that my big brave best friend was right on the edge of breaking down completely.

"Tell _you_ what hun?" I said in a cheerful voice I didn't recognise as my own. "We'll drag out the Thompson brochures right after breakfast, huh?"

"Always got my best interests at heart babe" she smiled weakly. "We should get together" It wasn't an _entirely_ serious request.

"Tell me again why you and I stopped shagging each other senseless?" I grinned weakly "I seem to remember we were both fucking _epic_ at the horizontal tango"

She managed a wan smile, but it faded quickly

"Because you decided that injecting Ketamine needles was more stimulating than my skillful fingers, Elizabeth Stonem. And I may never quite forgive you for that" She smirked, although the pain in her eyes wasn't for our lost fuck buddy status, but something far more recent.

We both winced at that, especially as there was more than a grain of truth in the statement. We had flirted with the idea of becoming more than just regular sex friends, but it was right about the time that I discovered the delights of daily horse tranquilizer doses, so it never really got off the ground. We'd gone back to being BFF's, without the side benefits, which was safer all round.

"Lucky escape for both of us then?" I said, and after a second or two, we were all right again.

"Right" I said in a tone which brooked no argument. "Hot bath, proper wound dressing for that leg, and then plenty of sleep for you madam. Thats quite enough excitement for the time being"

She didn't argue. I filled the metal bath, which I took off the wall, with piping hot water from the gravity tank over the open fire. When she had stripped off her filthy and tattered clothes and underwear, I had to look away for a second. It wasn't that she was unattractive naked...Jesus, I had seen her like that often enough not to care,, but on this cold and miserable morning, I saw the fresh scars on my best friends body, most of which had been earned protecting us, and I knew I was close to crying my eyes out. Which wouldn't have been any use at all, in the circumstances.

After I added a bit of tepid water, to make it just bearable, I helped her step into the old fashioned bath in front of the fire and handed her soap and a flannel. She stared into the fire with cold, empty eyes and began to soap herself clean.

The light was just getting brighter outside, and I knew sooner or later, I would have to involve Cook in all this. Just then, I saw Harry dart by my window. I guessed Jake had been home, and she was scurrying to let everyone know the news. I needed to talk to Cook at least before we got too many visitors. By the look in my friends eyes, she wouldn't be up to much for a good 24 hours. I excused myself and slipped out of the front door. Harry was just knocking on Anna's next door and I hissed at her to come over quickly.

She grinned broadly at me and her voice broke as she gabbled her news.

"Jake's back!" she said in a rush "and so is Naomi. They're safe!"

"I know hun" I said calmly "Naomi is in my place, having a well earned bath. Can you do me a favour and go to Cooks. Tell him no one is to come in to mine, apart from him. She's shattered, and wounded. Can you do that?"

She nodded happily and scooted away in the direction of Cooks cottage. I knew he would be up anyway, but he was probably knee deep in bacon sandwiches by now. Killing one of the pigs at the weekend had provided us with more pork than we could handle, so he was manfully trying his best to deal with the over supply single handedly.

I went back inside and bolted the door from inside. Naomi was still sitting in the bath, staring into the fire. I think it was a mixture of tiredness and despair, but I needed her compos mentis for the short term at least. Once I'd got her clean, repaired, debriefed her with Cook's help and into bed, she could rest properly at last.

The door banged once and I turned back to open it. Cook was outside, hopping from foot to foot.

"Fuck me Eff" He said, blowing into his hands "It's fucking brass monkeys out here. Let me in. I need to see our favourite muff muncher"

I knew his clumsy humour masked real concern for his best mate, and when I got him inside and re bolted the door, I saw his Jack the Lad act crumble. Naomi was cradling herself, the flannel forgotten over the side of the bath. She was crying silently, desolately.

He strode over to her and grabbed a big towel from the drying rail over the fireplace.

"I've got you babe" he said softly "Come to Cookie"

She stood up, water streaming down her damaged body and stared at him as he wrapped her in the towel. He looked back at her, his eyes showing his concern.

"I've got you kid...you're with friends now" he whispered and she collapsed into his arms, sobbing loudly. I left them to it for a moment. She _was_ safe now, and this real crying was better than the silent grief she had displayed up to now.

After I had covered the spare bed with a green sheet like an operating table, and my few surgical instruments were lined up beside it on the bedside table, I went back downstairs. They were still standing in the same position, but I guessed from her tousled hair and dry legs, that he had towelled her off. He was murmuring in her ear, and the loud sobs were replaced with gentle weeping.

"Come on honey" I said "Let's get that leg sorted out, then you can sleep for a week if you like"

She mutely followed me up the stairs, with Cook right behind us. None of us showed any sign of embarrassment as the towel dropped to the floor and I guided Naomi naked onto her back on the bed. Both Cook and I had seen her nude enough times, for different reasons, but this wasn't a time for any of that. Our friend was exhausted, wounded and broken. Time for us to step up and help her.

The thigh wound was worse than I thought. Although the field dressing had prevented visible infection, for now at least, the gash was deeper than it looked, and I had to give Naomi a bumper dose of oxycodone to dull the pain before I started. About two minutes after I gave her the jab, I could see it was having an effect. Her eyes glazed over a bit, and she relaxed her tightly clenched fists. Cook and I kept exchanging worried looks until her eyelids began to droop. It wouldn't knock her out completely, but it would make it easier on all of us to get the wound sorted properly.

Having the hot bath had made her skin go soft, so when I pulled at the wound, it opened up easily again. It was going to need internal as well as external stitches, the muscle underneath the surface cut was also damaged. I started slowly, doing each stitch neatly and steadily. I already knew Naomi had a high pain threshold, but the drug, combined with her exhaustion made it easier. She had turned her head away and was breathing regularly as I worked.

Ten minutes later I had her all sorted out. Well, physically at least. The wound was stitched neatly. I don't suppose she was much bothered at the moment about her appearance naked, especially after what I think happened at Emily's, but I felt a bit of professional pride that I had done as good a job on her as was possible, given our situation. A plastic surgeon would have no doubt sneered at my handiwork., but there seems to be a shortage of those at the moment.

I stood up slowly, my back cracking in protest at my awkward position over the bed. Cook looked at me and I nodded.

"She'll be fine" I said quietly "At least physically. Want to let her sleep for an hour or two? I'll come back and give her some milder painkillers then. Can you try to track down some DF118's or something...I think I saw some in that chemists at the other side of the village?"

"OK" he said simply "But we need to talk. And I mean you, me and Naomi, no one else. Certain people have fucked up recently...yet again, and we need to make some hard decisions babe"

I knew what he was talking about, and my heart sank a bit. He didn't know what Emily had actually done to drop Naomi into this amount of despair, but he was no fool. He'd watched Katie give me the miseries, and the twins performance on Tresco in the summer hadn't faded in his mind. I think Cook had put two and two together and come up with an answer that wouldn't be very welcome news to the Fitch sisters.

We let Naomi sleep for several hours. She didn't wake up, so I held off on the codeine. She would need a bit of pain relief, thats for sure, but the stuff is fucking addictive, and I didn't want to add to her problems.

Finally, after Cook had seen Jake and questioned him about the trip, he came back to my cottage and updated me on the situation outside.

"Right" he said flatly "I've spoken to Jake about what they found over there. Basically its all completely fucked . Cannibals roaming the countryside, feral gangs looking for walking meat larders and slaves, stripped shops and fields, some sort of chemical residue from fuck knows what. Its not going to be an option for a fucking hundred years. The mainland is off limits for the duration. So our first preference of Madeira sounds bang on. Its an island, it has year round mild weather. Its fertile and its not within close reach of the continent or Africa. Its not strategically important either, at least not any more, so any military muscle left alive is probably only going to pay it cursory attention. Its big enough to hide in, especially in the middle, where it's pretty mountainous and remote. And now Naomi and Jake have got us the perfect travel bus. That fucking Bombardier 415 she flew back in is a Godsend. Its big enough to take as many of us as we like, and we can load it up with supplies and weapons. It can land on water or land, so if any good whatsoever came out of this fucked up trip, that was it"

He took a deep breath.

"Now I don't know exactly what happened to reduce our friend upstairs to hysterics, but I'm willing to bet it has something to do with the Fitch twin opposite. I've watched her and her little helper all week. Someone has the serious hots for Emily Fitch, and it ain't you or me babe. Seems like both twins have a habit of fucking other people up. Let's face it, if you and Naoms hadn't bumped into them in Mousehole, our problems here would be halved. You'd probably be shagging Anna on a nightly basis, and I'm sure Naomi would have settled for an occasional Cookie waggle to keep the edge off, even if she is more muff muncher than cock cruncher these days"

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I cuffed him across the back of the head good naturedly.

"Fuck off Cook" I said thinly "I think its more likely Naomi and I would have paired off, with the occasional Anna side salad, and _you_ would have had to settle for Madam Palm and her five lovely daughters, like you do now. How _is_ the Kleenex shortage affecting you hun?"

He laughed out loud, and I cuffed him again.

"Tone it down Cook" I said "Let her sleep a bit longer, huh?"

"Too late Eff'" I heard from the stairs "While you were busy deciding who wold be my reserve shag, I woke up and decided I was fucking hungry"

We both stared at Naomi, who was standing in a wrapped sheet, bed hair and all, looking at us with an amused smirk

"But I make you right. Emily and Katie Fitch have been nothing but trouble since we met them" Her eyes narrowed when she said the names.

"Emily obviously can't keep it in her pants even for a couple of weeks, and Katie seems to have decided that she prefers French food for breakfast"

I winced at her succinct description of Katie's sexual preferences. I didn't need reminding about what she'd been up to last night.

"So..." Naomi said, flopping down into the overstuffed armchair by the fire, wincing as her leg touched the arm "Madeira then. I think we have either AvGas or Jet A in that pod tank on the airfield. Other than that, I saw a helicopter in the hangar, it'll do if we need to siphon some off. The 415 has a fully fueled range of about 1500 miles. More than enough, especially if we do the cautious thing and land in southern Portugal first, to refuel. I reckon we could make it in 16 hours tops. An 800 mile hop to Faro, gas up, then a short 500 mile flight to Funchal. That birds got all the latest nav systems, and its in tip top condition. It'll even land on water if we're desperate"

"Seems like you're back on form" I said sarcastically. "Wouldn't it be a good idea for you to rest a bit first, Roger Ramjet, before planning to conquer the universe all over again?"

She looked at me calmly. A calm I didn't like one fucking bit. I'd only seen her like this once before in a personal situation. Cold, emotionless, detached. When that pretty girl in Germany broke her heart. She was back in automaton mode. Being like that in action is one thing, but being like it with me...with us...wasn't good. Whatever else Emily Fitch had done, she had made Naomi laugh again, feel again. It looked like _that_ Naomi was taking a long vacation...

"So" she said, ignoring my comment completely "I suggest we get organized. First we draw up a passenger short list. A list which _doesn't_ include the Fitch twins or the French kids. We have enough bodies to survive over there without them. Anna speaks Portuguese which will be fucking handy in Madeira, Cook and me can handle the combat side...along with Jake, who let me tell you is a fucking star. Harry will be an asset always, and Eff has the medical side sorted. We don't need any more baggage than we need. Katie and her sister can stay here with Serge, Clemence and Emilie. Their farm house is still habitable and if _they_ prefer French cuisine to English, _they_ can stuff their cute little faces to their hearts content for the next fifty fucking years on this wind blown fucking rock. Frankly, I don't need the grief. The sooner we're shot of them the better."

The icy bitterness in her voice was frightening. But there was no talking to her in this mood. As far as she was concerned, Emily had betrayed her. Katie had betrayed me, and she had no particular affection for our new recruits, especially after finding one of them tucked up in bed with her now ex girlfriend. Bollocks, I thought. Cook flashed me an entirely unnecessary warning glance. I had no intention of arguing with Naomi this morning. She was tired, drugged up and wounded. She might be struggling hard to maintain the hard woman front, but I knew I had less than 24 hours to change her mind. Otherwise our little band would be down to 7...

XXX


	26. Chapter 26

Emily

I'm standing here in Cook's cottage crying my eyes out, and all I can think of is that it's like being in my headmasters study that time at school when I got caught shoplifting with Katie, and thinking the world was about to end. Actually, I didn't do any shoplifting, and nor did Katie, but the girl who was with us had been, and we were all lined up in his office, waiting for our parents, and to see if we were about to get expelled.

Now I'm not trying to trivialise what's happening now, because this is way more serious than being expelled from school, but at the time, I was just about to take my GCSE's and it _felt_ like the end of the world. I suppose you would have to have known my mother to understand, but anyway...

"Cook" I said humbly "I don't know any other way of saying this. I've tried to explain in a hundred ways... _nothing_ **ever** happened between me and Emilie. She just gets nightmares, and she creeps into my...our... bed at night, while Naomi was away. It's nothing sexual. She's just a kid for fucks sake. I don't see her that way at all. Naomi just got the wrong end of the stick..."

"Are you _terminally_ stupid" Cook said brutally, and I rocked back on my heels at his cold tone.

"W...what?" I said , blinking at his expression.

"I said, are you terminally stupid Emily?" he growled. "It may come as a bit of a shock to you, but everyone, and I mean _everyone_ else in the group knows exactly what your little French friend has been up to this past week. She follows you around with those big doe eyes all day. Never leaves your side at mealtimes and whispers in your ear at every meeting. She fancies the pants off you Fitch, and given enough time, she would have been a _lot_ more than a platonic friend to you. Now put yourself in Naomi's shoes. She puts her neck on the line for us day after day. I've just seen Effy put 24 stitches in her leg, for fucks sake. Just the latest scar to add to the total. She's brought us news from the mainland, a fucking _plane_ and in the process, her and Jake have seen things that would make your pretty head burst with fear. It was a fucking close thing, getting back here at all. And after all that...after probably the only thing she's been thinking of...you... while she's been away, she virtually crawls on her hands and knees back up to your bedroom on her last bit of energy, and what does she find? Oh yeah, the 'girlfriend' who couldn't be arsed to see her off when she left...in _bed_ with another girl. How would you see things Emily, if you were like...a _normal_ girlfriend for once?

My eyes filled with more tears, but he wasn't interested. My heart ached so much I thought it would actually explode. Naomi wouldn't see me, wouldn't even let Effy tell me how she was. I just got a stony silence and evil looks from Eff when she came to collect Naomi's stuff. I don't just mean enough clothing to tide her over while she recovered, but _all_ her stuff. Everything that ever existed in our cottage that was hers. I cried, I shouted and I begged, but Effy just let me cry myself out and shook her head dismissively. She only spoke once, as she left the cottage.

"You've blown it Emily" she said coldly "You and your fucking nympho sister have been a poison eating away at us ever since we first met you. You made Naomi trust you...believe in you, and then you broke her fucking heart into pieces. I'll never ever forgive you for that. And neither will she. It doesn't even matter that you haven't fucked Emile...yet. Naomi left here without even a goodbye from you, without any sign that you understood what she was risking for us. She nearly _died_ , Emily, can you understand that? And all you seem to care about is a French girl who you met days ago. What the fuck goes _on_ in your head?"

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry" I whispered, letting the tears run down my face freely "I never meant this to happen...I do love her, I love her so fucking much...but she scares the shit out of me. She's like two people...this wonderful warm, funny and affectionate woman who I'm crazy about, and who cuddles me at night and takes care of me...and then in a second she turns into a cold, emotionless killer. Its like living with two completely different people"

Effy just looked at me with contempt.

"That 'cold killer' has saved my life at least once recently, and your life I don't know _how_ many times, and she will go on doing just that until she runs out of luck Emily. And when she does, it will be Naomi's blood seeping into the floorboards, Naomi's brains splattered on the wall, Naomi's eyes fading into darkness. Am I happy about that? No, I'm fucking not. She's been everything to me these past few years. My lover, my best friend, my mum and my protector. We look after each other and I love her more than any human being left on this fucking planet. Can you say the same? While your heart was bleeding over some homicidal farmer who was holding us hostage, the rest of the world is trying very hard to kill us all, slowly and painfully. Well, she's had enough now. You and your sister have finally reached the end of the line. I wish to _fuck_ me and Naoms had been anywhere else in Cornwall when this whole thing kicked off. Enjoy your stay on Ushant, Emily, it might be a very long one. Oh, and when you finally see Katie, if she ever gets out from under Serge, tell her that her stuff is outside my cottage. She just moved out"

With that she left, and I shed another bucket load of useless tears.

When I went outside, I could tell everything had changed. Anna and Harry looked away when I smiled at them, Jake just stared coldly. And Cook...well that's why I was standing in his cottage, trying my best to save something, anything from this monumental fuck up. I got it now. I might be terminally stupid, but I got it, finally.

"I didn't think Cook" I said weakly "And for that I am so, so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing, looking after that girl. She needed a friend, and I thought..."

"So did Naomi" Cook interrupted "and you were supposed to be her best friend, remember?"

"I know...I know" I sobbed "Tell me what to do...and I'll do it Cook. I'll do anything, fucking _anything_. She means everything to me. I can't lose her"

"Well she's not likely to give you the chance Emily" Cook grunted "We've got to get going. Plans to make, fuel to loot and all that. I'd love to stop and chat, but we've got a journey to plan" he looked at me with a bit of compassion "A journey you won't be making, I'm afraid. You or your sister. Better jog off now Emily, I need to get going"

He turned to go and I literally grabbed hold of him, wiping tears from my eyes so I could see his face.

"What...what journey...where... I mean... you _can't_ leave us behind. Please Cook, I'm begging you. Don't do this!"

He looked at me with a face of stone.

"Let me spell it out for you little Fitch. Me, Naomi, when she's well enough to fly that crate, Effy, Anna, Mauricio, Jake and Harry are out of here..." He looked up at the cold sky through the grimy window " I reckon 3 days should do it"

"W...what about _us_?...me and Katie, Serge, Clemence, Emilie...we can't survive here on our own. _I_ can't survive without Naomi...not now"

"You'll be fine Emily" Cook said quietly, not looking at me at all now "Serge and Clemence are used to running that little croft up there... You'll get through the winter OK with all the supplies we'll leave for you. Plenty of wood and coal. I'm guessing you won't won't have any trouble with the murderous French cannibals this side of spring, so you'll be able to prepare defences if and when they do come. Not really my problem any more, is it?"

My heart thumped so loud I thought I was going to pass out. He wasn't serious. Leave us here? Alone...we'd die, thats for certain. None of us were brilliant with weapons, and I was never going to be a fucking farmer. I hadn't got a clue...and as for Katie...the only thing she's be any good at would be artificial insemination. She's had more hard cocks in her hand than George Michael, she'd be fine milking the pigs for semen...but that's about it.

"Cook, _please_ " I said, begging openly now "I know she doesn't want to talk to me now. But will you do one last thing for me?

He nodded and I carried on quickly, before he changed his mind.

"Tell her this. Tell her I'm so, so sorry. I _never_ cheated on her. I couldn't... I love her too much. I was wrong, and I admit it. I can't lose her now. Tell her I'll do anything, anything at all. Just ask her to give me a few minutes to talk to her. I promise not to upset her. I know she needs rest now, so I'll go back to my...our... cottage to wait. But when she's ready. I'll come, whatever time, day or night. Will you ask her that Cook?"

Again the nod, then he ushered me out of the door and back into the cold air. I shivered in my short cardigan, I hadn't even bothered to grab a coat before I ran outside.

As I headed towards my cottage, I saw Katie coming down the street, holding hands with Serge and looking for all the world as if nothing was wrong. I almost hated her at that second. If I was a stupid fool, she was an empty headed cunt, and I was about to tell her that.

"What's up lezzer" she sneered when they got to me "Serge's sister left her tongue up there?"

I stared at her for a long moment, and after 30 seconds her confidence broke.

"What's up Emily" she said

"You've got cum on your cheek Katie" I said coldly.

She hadn't but the fact that that she checked with her hand told me everything I needed to know about how far their relationship had progressed.

"What the **fuck** Emily...? she said angrily.

"We need to talk" I said "Serge,you can pretty much fuck off now"

She didn't even acknowledge him as he kissed her cheek (lucky about the come huh?) and we walked into my cottage together. I just hoped it wouldn't be for the last time...

XXX


	27. Chapter 27

Naomi

The past five days have been hell. Not just because Cook and Effy have been acting like Rottweilers and guarding my door against all visitors. Not just because my gashed leg has hurt like a bastard, with the stitches also itching like crazy as it healed, with the added 'bonus' of being weaned off my lovely morphine jag by none other than reformed former drug addict, Effy Stonem (ironic huh?) Not only because I have been pretty much marginalised by the aforementioned duo, who have been collecting supplies, hoarding drugs and arming the Bombardier. But also the fucking great she elephant in the room, which is being totally ignored. One Emily Jane Fitch.

I've slept fitfully, my dreams full of remorseful, crying Emily's. I've daydreamed while in front of the fire, usually about the same person, funny enough, and I've spent a lot of hours devising cruel revenge plans for when I'm mobile again. I know it's not healthy. I know because it's probably only half as bad as the torture she's already going through, because I have a rough idea how she feels, but it's the only outlet I have at the moment, OK? Its that or voodoo dolls with pins...

But eventually, I am going to have to face the outside world again. My leg is much better, and the morphine has been reduced to a couple of Paramols at night, before I go to bed. Effy has let me have the main bedroom and the double bed, as I sleep so restlessly. She's in the spare room, but I only see her at night. The rest of the time she's out with Cook or Jake, making plans and scouring the island for anything useful to take with us.

They can't do anything about leaving until I'm well enough to pilot the old bird out of here. Cook is fine on single engine crates, like a Cessna TT or something, but I'm the only one with real multi engine experience, and more importantly, flight hours in the actual plane we're using. If we're gonna take a 1300 mile trip, its important that I am fully OK with enduring a flight that long.

But of course, all that is in the future. Effy says it will be at least another week until I'm healed, which blew our quick getaway plans into a tangled mess. My idea of strapping my leg up, saying a quick _sayonara_ to Misses Fitch and their French friends and buggering off, is dead in the water.

I heard Emily and Katie screaming at each other in the street the first morning after I arrived back, but Effy went outside and told them to shut the fuck up because I was sick and trying to sleep, and even Katie seemed to take that lying down...but then she takes things mostly lying down...or on her hands and knees, so I'm told...

I know I'm gonna have to face Emily at one point, but at the moment, its easier to lay here, pretending I'm sicker than I am and wallowing in the epic self pity I am prone to. I fucking love her...I mean _loved_ her. Get the tense right, Naomi. Isn't that supposed to mean something? She's been to my door three times since she found out I was up and about again. But each time she's had the door slammed in her face by Cook or Effy. She seems to have given up now, and I don't really know how I feel about that. When I heard Cook and Effy discussing me and her that morning, I put on a brave face and told them I was fine, and raring to go. But as soon as my head hit the pillow after I struggled back upstairs, it was obvious I was far from OK. Eff is never taken in by my hard woman routine. She ignored my grandstand speech about getting organised and flying out of here at the first bit of good weather. She told me that she would take care of getting my things from my old cottage, and I think she did a bit of Fitch bating while she was over there. In any case, the hot news is that Emilie is now an ex occupant of my bed and my place in Chez Campbell. Katie dumped Serge like a hot croissant when she found out he was her passport to farming hell, and the whole community is waiting for the showdown. Except me that is.

I know Emily believes I am a fucking emotional ice block half the time, but its never been true. Not really. I've now killed more people than I ever imagined I would when I signed up for this soldiering gig, but each one haunts me more and more. Even the fuckwit who raped and murdered that girl back in Cornwall...fuck, even that half man, half cannibal who tried to eat me (not in a nice way) on the French mainland. Its not easy ending a human life...pulling the trigger is one thing. Watching them die is another. Despite what Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling might show on screen, _actual_ killing isn't the least bit cinematic. Blood, brains and lots of screaming, usually. And it ...smells...violent death. Coppery, pissy and nasty.

Anyway, no matter. There seemed to be another visitor downstairs from the murmur of raised voices reaching me as I laid there on my bed, staring unseeing at the wall. I groaned and pulled the quilt higher around my neck. Go away...go _away_...I thought, I'm still not ready to talk to anyone. Maybe I never will be...

I heard the door to my room click open and shut my eyes, hoping they would think I was asleep. It closed gently and there was another metallic sound... sounded like a lock turning...wait...what the fuck...locking me _in_?

I spun round and glared at what I supposed was a locked door. Well there was a locked door, but inside it, standing there as large as life...Emily fucking Fitch. Holding the small key to my door in her hand and staring at me steadily.

"Get the _fuck_ out Emily" I sneered "You've done enough damage for one lifetime, don't you think?"

She blinked, but didn't move. Just looked at me. Fuck, those eyes. I had to get away from those hypnotic brown eyes.

"Go _away_ " I said again, but my voice broke on the last word, and I cursed my weakness.

She kept looking at me, and I saw a big fat tear run down her cheek. She swallowed thickly and I heard a small sigh before she spoke.

"No" she said simply

" _Excuse_ me?" I said, sitting up quickly and then wishing I hadn't as my head swam from the sudden movement. "You're in _my_ room, and I want you to _leave_. I don't think Cook or Effy would be best pleased to see you in here, especially as you seem to have locked us in"

She nodded at my words, but made no move to actually do anything about it.

"So, you're leaving then?" I said coldly "Don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out"

"No" she said again "Not until you've listened to me"

" _ **Cook**_!" I shouted to the locked door "Can you get this...person out of my room?"

Silence...

"They've gone out" she said simply "And in any case, they know I'm here"

The sting of my supposed friends betrayal left me completely speechless for a moment.

"They _what_?" I growled eventually, "I'll fucking _kill_ the pair of them.

I managed to swing my legs out of the bed, and after letting the room stop revolving, I shakily got up. I don't think a pair of pink woolly socks and a faded Status Quo tour tee shirt qualified as dignified nightwear, but what can I say, I wasn't expecting visitors.

"Give me the key Emily" I said "Or I might have to hurt you"

She smothered the small smile which had threatened to emerge when she saw what I was wearing in bed. Lucky for her. Humour was not on my agenda tonight.

"You won't hurt me Naomi" she said "You'd... never... hurt me"

I growled again and moved across the room towards her.

"I'm warning you Emily" I said "Give me the fucking key, or I _will_ hurt you, and that's a promise. You're off my Christmas card list, hadn't you heard?"

With that, she lifted up her long jacket and pushed her right hand down inside her cargo pants. My eyes widened when I saw what she was doing, but as I grabbed for her hand, it came out of her bottoms empty. Fuck, fuck, _FUCK_!.

"You know where to find it Naomi" she said, not smiling, just a small twitch of her lips gave away her faint amusement "If you promise to let me say my piece, _I_ promise to give you the key back afterwards. Or...you could just...search for it...if you'd prefer that"

My eyes goggled at that. "I'm _not_ rummaging in your underwear for the key Emily...fucking give it back... _now!_ "

"No" she said again, and walked past me to the rumpled bed. I know it was the only place where she could actually sit down, but the last thing I wanted was her body on my bed. I found it hard enough to deal with an upright Emily Fitch in the room, horizontal would finish me.

"Will you sit down before you fall down Naomi" she said quietly, all humour now gone "I know you hate me right now, but I have to say this, even if you kill me afterwards... Please?"

I sighed. Short of pinning her to the bed and putting my hand inside her knickers, which I would never be able to trust myself to do without doing... more than that... to her... I didn't have much choice, did I?

"Five minutes" I said acidly and moved back to sit next to her on the bed. "Five fucking minutes and then you're out of here?"

She nodded and smiled sweetly at me in gratitude. Fuck I wish she wouldn't do that, I thought, I need to really _hate_ her if I'm going to leave her behind.

She took a deep breath and started to talk

"From the first moment I saw you on that hill in Cornwall, I knew you were going to be special to me. I know you must have just thought I was some random little cheeky dyke, but for some reason, underneath the lame chat up lines I was trying, I knew I _had_ to see you again. Call it fate, call it chance... whatever. First you took my breath away, and then you changed my fucking life"

She looked at me intently and continued

"Ever since I was a little girl, Katie has always been the first to everything. First to get tits, first to get a proper boyfriend, first to choose clothes, take drugs,... Everything. But meeting you that day made me realise that I was going to be the first at something _far_ more important. The first to fall in love with someone... They call it love at first sight, and to be honest, I thought for the first 20 years of my life that was complete bollocks. And then I saw you...with your tatty green jumper and muddy wellies. I'm surprised you didn't run a mile. I was practically dribbling over you"

"Since that day, I haven't woken up a single morning and regretted meeting you. You've looked after me, you've held me when I've been afraid, you saved my life when that lion wanted me for lunch, and you've showed me in a hundred different ways that you care about me...and love me as much as I love you"

"But I've been stupid. So fucking... stupid. I've taken all the love you gave and threw it back at you. Not because I don't care, but because I'm still that scared little lesbian I was back when the world was 'normal'. I kept judging you by the old standards. The standards which got the whole human race into this shit in the first place"

"I could tell you I'm sorry, but thats just a fucking excuse. I _am_ sorry, more sorry than I can say. But sorry won't change the fact that I fucked up...again...and I keep fucking up. I didn't screw Emilie, but then I think you already know that. I'm not a cheater, never have been. But I let her dependence on me become something more. I've spent so long with you as my protector, it was flattering to have someone who depended on _me_ for a change. But like I said, thats just an excuse, and I'm all out of excuses"

"If you leave us here...we'll all die. Sooner or later we'll die. And you already know that too. But if that was the only reason for you not to leave us behind, I'd say go ahead. Because if you leave me Naomi...I'll already be dead. Without you, the thought of just existing here has no appeal at all. I love you...I love you so much I can barely breathe just being in the same room as you. Life without your face, without your kisses and without you...just being with me...wouldn't be any life at all"

"Now I've had my five minutes. If you want me to go now, I will. But you needed to know how I feel, and I needed to know that you know. I will always love you...no matter what you decide. But I'm begging you for one last chance to prove to you that I am worth saving"

She took a shuddering breath

"Just one last thing before I go Na..."

I interrupted " Emily..."

"No...just let me say..."

"Emily?"

"Nao..."

I decided the only way I was ever gonna be able to shut her up was with direct action, so I stood up and grabbed her by the front of her scruffy blue sweatshirt. She looked up at me with haunted eyes, expecting...I don't know what.

"You're a twat" I said curtly.

Emily nodded quickly "I'm a twat" she agreed

"And you don't deserve a girlfriend as kind, as loving and as loyal as me" I said flatly

"Err...yeah, all of that" she said quietly, frowning.

"Emily?" I said, still scowling

"Naomi?" she asked, eyes holding mine

"If I try to find that key...will it take me long to... find it" I said, the corners of my mouth twitching as I tried to keep my face stony

I saw a dozen emotions cross her face.

"W...what?" she managed eventually. Then understanding made her smile broadly.

"You mean...?" she whispered softly

"I mean this..." I said and slid my right hand under the waistband of her loose cargo pants and inside her knickers. Cupping her between the legs, I squeezed her there gently.

"Oh" she said, and brought her hands up to hold my face " Take as long as you want"

"I intend to Fitch..." I growled " I believe a welcome home is well overdue?"

"Oh fuck yes..." she breathed "Please..."

"This doesn't mean you're forgiven Emily" I breathed in her ear as I lowered her onto the bed and pulled her clothes off roughly "But I can think of several ways you could make a start"

"I told you before Naoms..." she groaned, as my hungry mouth closed on her nipple "Just name it...in the bedroom...I'm your own little whore...you just have to just ask...anything at all"

Fuck me if that promise didn't make me forget my aching leg for a good twenty minutes...

XXX

So...twenty hot, noisy and satisfying minutes later, we're laying side by side, sweat cooling on our bodies. Her eyes are closed, and I took the chance to really look at her. I didn't regret it. Sex with Emily was always amazing. But had we really solved anything? Had _I_ really solved anything by giving in and sleeping with her again? As I pondered, she opened her eyes and turned to me. I could see the conflict in them.

"Second thoughts?" she whispered throatily. Sex with Emily always involved a lot of vocal encouragement from her, and damned if it didn't give me a twinge, hearing her voice roughened by overuse.

"Not really" I lied " Just thinking..."

"About what?" she smiled uncertainly " I meant every word Naomi. _Please_ say you believe me"

I nodded "I believe you're sorry, and I believe you never meant to hurt me. But we need to talk. I know I'm a closed off bitch, who takes decisions without consulting you, and always assumes you'll go along with anything I decide. Thats got to stop too. I blame you for not trusting me, but I don't give you the chance to do it. So I'm sorry too. We've all got to adjust to this new, massively fucked up world. I promise to treat you like an equal, because you are, and you promise to remember that everything I do...I do for you...and... now I'm going to shut the fuck up, because I've just realised I'm quoting poxy Bryan Adams, and thats one part of the 'old' world I won't miss"

She giggled prettily and started humming that fucking Robin Hood tune. I was forced to tickle her to make her stop. But as usual, tickles turned to strokes and squeezes. Soon I found myself kissing those oh so kissable lips again. I pulled away eventually, which earned me a sad little pout

"I was enjoying that" she whined " More please?"

I smirked at her expression. "In a minute. I feel the need for a session of …..true confessions?

"Oh Christ" she grinned "Please don't say we're gonna play 'I never, ever'

"Something like that" I said, trying to keep my expression neutral "So tell me Miss Fitch...first sexual experience?"

"Oh goody"...she sighed.." Now you want to hear all my embarrassing moments. Way to kill the mood, Campbell"

I grinned at her grumpy face " Tell you what Ems, you tell all, and the more it turns me on, the more I do this..." I reached over and squeezed her breast slowly..."and this..." I said quietly, and licked her neck, right up to her ear. She moaned, laying back and grabbing my hand, pressing it between her legs, where she was still wet and open

"And... this?" she whispered

"And that" I murmured, sliding an inquiring finger just inside her wetness. She moaned again

"OK" she breathed "Oh fucking hell...yeah babes...just like _that_ "

I slowed my pace and she whimpered in protest.

"So...true confessions?" I said

"So fucking cruel Naomi" she panted "So cruel..."

"It was my second cousin Gemma. I was 14...and the whole family was up in Scotland for Hogmanay. There were lots of us cousins, and because Gemma was only a year older than me, I had to share her bed. Katie was sharing with another cousin down the hall, but they had twin beds in there. Gemma and I shared a sort of 3/4 sized one, so it was a bit of a squeeze"

Talking of squeezes, I gave her fanny a nice slow one, just to encourage her. I felt her hips rise to meet my hand...she was fucking turned on big time now.

"And?" I said, relaxing my grip on her " Are we gonna get to the good bit soon?"

She looked at me sternly and grabbed my hand..."Don't tease" she said tightly..."Play fair Naomi"

I smiled at her wickedly and put a bit of pressure back on her. She laid back and continued to talk.

"I quite fancied her anyway. She was curvy in all the right places, dark haired, with big blue eyes...always my weakness" she said, and I leaned over and growled in her ear.

"I don't have dark hair"

"The eyes, idiot..." she laughed..."The fucking _eyes_!"

"Carry on" I said slowly

"So when I woke up at about midnight, and felt the bed moving, I knew exactly what she was doing to herself, and I was so excited, I nearly came on the spot"

"She was getting herself off?" I said stupidly

"Well, duh" Emily smirked "Even at 14, and despite Katies apparent desire to frustrate _all_ my attempts at self exploration..I did have some idea what fun you could have with fingers and a hair brush handle"

I chuckled at her over description.

"Do you want to hear this or not?" she grumbled. I squeezed again in response, which produced another little moan.

"I didn't know whether to just lay there and listen, or to open my eyes and try to get a proper look. Trouble was, when I finally decided to risk a peek at her, and opened my eyes, she was on her side, facing _me_...with her eyes wide open"

"Jesus!" I gasped..." So, did she stop what she was doing?"

"Yeah...for as long as it took her to realise I wasn't grossed out, seeing her doing it. Then all she said was...'We can't **ever** tell anyone about this Emily...OK?' and then she..."

Emily stopped then, because I had become so wrapped up in her story, my middle finger had decided to take matters in its own hands, as it were, and was circling her very excited clit.

Her groan of pleasure, and the way her hips rolled in sympathy, made me realise I needed to slow down. It was exquisite, the way her memories and my fingers combined to get her so excited, but I wanted this to last, so I slid my finger out of her, which earned me another whimper of protest, and just cupped her again.

"Fuck Naomi" she complained

"Just taking my time here, Miss Fitch..." I smiled " We've a way to go yet before I'm sucking on your clit"

Her eyes got big as saucers as she registered what I'd just said and she moaned in frustration.

"Jesus babe...you're gonna kill me" she said plaintively

"You were saying?" I said flatly, and after another attractive pout, she went on.

"So Gemma moved closer to me, and said again 'If you tell anyone about this, I'll never speak to you again'. So I just nodded. I was a bit puzzled, I mean, I was only 14 but even _I_ knew girls masturbated in bed. God knows, I'd heard my fucking sister squeaking in the shower often enough, when she thought I was asleep. I wasn't naive enough to believe the shampoo got into her eyes _every_ fucking night...So anyway, when I nodded, she did something which freaked me out completely..."

"What?" I said impatiently... I was starting to get turned on, watching _her_ get turned on remembering,

"Anyway...she grabbed my hand and pulled it between her legs until my fingers were exactly where hers had been. She was so fucking wet, when my finger touched her, it sank in right up to the knuckle. I didn't know whether to pull my hand back ,or just go along with what she was doing. She guided my finger until I was circling her clit. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open. I just remember thinking 'Fuck, I'm actually fingering a girl'.. before she suddenly froze then started shaking and panting like she was having a heart attack"

"She was coming?" I said stupidly, feeling Emily's sex heat up another few degrees as the memories stimulated her.

"Well, duh, Naomi...she wasn't having an actual seizure"

"OK clever bitch" I smiled " Go on..."

"Well, after she calmed down, she pushed my hand away and started to slide her hand up my nightgown. I stopped her...not because I didn't want her to touch me...quite opposite, but I was still a bit freaked out at how quickly it had gone from two cousins sharing a bed, to me finger fucking her in about 30 seconds flat"

"So she didn't get you off then?" I asked

"Oh she did" Emily said, " It only took a few seconds of her fingering me...but not before she swore me to secrecy yet again, I mean what the fuck did she think I was gonna do...announce it at breakfast?"

"I think you deserve a little treat for that Ems" I said slyly "Like this..."

With that, I slid my finger back inside her and curled it backwards, massaging her G spot. She arched up instantly, and captured my mouth with hers. This time we both moaned. When we broke for oxygen, she was panting, and using her hand to press my thumb onto her excited clit. I stopped moving. Another few strokes and she would have come...and I wasn't ready for that yet. I wanted her on her back, legs over my shoulders and scrabbling frantically with my hair when she finally climaxed.

"Not yet babe..." I teased " One more story...When was the first time a girl went down on you...and did she make you come?"

"Fuck sake Naoms..." Emily exploded. " I was nearly there then..."

"I know" I said, grinning..." and next time I get you that close...I won't stop...unless _you_ do?"

"Jesus H Christ" she moaned..."This is fucking torture"

"And?" I said, twitching my finger again.

"OK...OK..." she said, grimacing as I slowed my stroking to a minimum.

"Her name was Laura, she was 2 years older than me. Katie persuaded my mother to pay for us to have tennis lessons. I think I was just past my 16th birthday. Of course, Katie had just discovered the power of blow jobs around that time, so she was doing her best to spread the love about evenly. The male tennis coach was called Rod, or something equally inappropriate. Anyway, all Katie wanted was his dick, not his forehand technique...foreplay was more like it. She used to knock a few balls about on the court with him...and then play with his balls for an hour in the locker room. Meanwhile, Laura, the woman's coach taught me"

"Same scenario then, I grinned " except no balls?"

Despite the fact that I was still lazily fingering Emily, she managed to laugh with me.

"It wasn't quite like that" Emily smirked "It took her almost a month to get into my knickers"

'

"Playing hard to get Fitch?" I said

""Not really..." Emily smirked back." She was tall, blonde and had blue eyes...pattern emerging here Campbell? She was drop dead gorgeous...sort of an English Anna Kournikova. I would have slept with her in a minute, if she'd asked me...but it wasn't until Katie got tired of 'Hot Rod' that she made a move on me"

I resumed my slow stroking as her eyes got dreamy with half forgotten memories.

"She waited till we were the last ones in the changing room. It was winter, and dark outside. Because she was the resident junior pro, she had keys. I didn't know she'd locked the door until I came out of the shower, just in one of those stupid little towels they give you...and noticed that she hadn't got dressed after hers.

"So she basically just jumped you?" I asked, still teasing her.

"More or less" Emily said, biting her lip. "Although, I'd tried my fucking best to give her lesbian signals all summer without any success. I suppose...Oh **fuck** , Naomi...yes babe...just like that..."

"So she kissed you?"

"Yeah..."

"And stroked you...like this?"

"Oh God yes..."

"And sucked your nipples hard...like this...?"

"Mmmmmm...oh fucking _Jesus_...yes?"

"And gave you two long...fingers...inside...like this?"

Emily didn't answer...well not with words anyway...just a series of helpless moans and sighs

"And did she lick you, suck you...fuck you senseless... like...this?" I said, sliding down her body and throwing her legs over my shoulders.

"Oh please Naoms...no more words...I'm gonna...oh fuck...so deep inside..I'm gonna...now..."

And she did...loudly...frantically. My head ached for an hour afterwards from the tugging and grabbing. No one comes so beautifully as Emily...

XXX

Three miles north...a deserted cottage.

Effy

"Oh shit Eff...don't stop...just keep...just keep on... **FUCK**!"

Cook isn't very imaginative with words when his cock is in someone's warm mouth. Not that I blame him...not at this precise moment at least. He'd at least given me a pretty good shag beforehand, and although, as fucking usual with a guy, I'd had to use my own fingers to make myself come...otherwise he'd have been banging away on top of me for a fucking week, at least I _had_ come. This had started as a distraction exercise. Against my better judgement, I'd left Emily to her attempt to rescue her broken relationship with Naomi. Not that I really approved. But Naomi has been in a downward spiral ever since she got back. She's spent most of the time laying on her...my bed, facing the wall, silent and brooding. At night she cries quietly, but she won't let me comfort her. Eventually I realised that she'd never come to terms with what's happened until they talk.

Well, I say talk. Those two can't share a room more than 15 minutes without fucking...so I guessed they would be doing just that right about now.

OK, I hear you saying, but how and what in heavens name has that got to do with you presently giving Cook an early oral Christmas present?

Well, if you knew Cook the way I know Cook, you'd soon understand that fucking me will throw every sane thought he ever had out of his tiny, primitive mind. And letting him finish in my mouth would probably make him my obedient poodle for a year. Small sacrifice for my best friend, huh?

I reached for my water bottle and swilled out my mouth as he grinned stupidly, starting to zip himself back into his combats.

"Fuck, Eff" he grinned..his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat

"I thought you didn't like giving head to guys?"

"I don't...not particularly Cook, but you've been a good boy lately... and I thought you deserved a treat"

"It was ace babe...so, does this mean we're regular fuck buddies now? I thought you had moved over to the dark side completely... you know...with Anna and...err...Katie"

"Lets not spoil a good mood Cook?" I said " Anna was warm, sexy and willing...and I thought Katie could be more than just a random shag. I was wrong... so all those rumours about my infallibility are wrong...aren't they?"

"Never mind Eff" Cook grinned and raised an eyebrow " Me and little Cookie can keep you occupied at nights anytime you like"

"Cook...?" I said, frowning at his total non grasp of the situation. " First, anyone who describes themselves or their...swollen appendages... in the third person is never going to be in with a chance of being my 'regular fuck buddy' and second...while you were busy giving me a nasty taste in my mouth...your...no, _our_ best friend Naomi has been making up with the less toxic Fitch twin"

He almost caught his still semi hard dick in his zip when I said that...pity, I thought, he would have looked funny, hopping around with 'little Cook' agonizingly trapped...but anyway, it didn't stop him bawling me out big -time.

"You are fucking kidding...right?" he roared. "I thought we agreed that those two, along with the Frenchies, are history. Left behind...no longer with us...etcetera?" t

"That was the original plan Cookie" I agreed "But Naomi has been a fucking wreck all week. Unless she sorts this shit out with Emily, she'll be no fucking use to us. Now I know a half fit, broken hearted Naomi is still worth any two of the rest of us when it comes to surviving, but I'm gambling this afternoon will end up being good all round, and not just because you got 'little Cook' damp"

"And what about the other half of the double act?" he growled..." Am I gonna come over to yours tonight to find you and Katie playing soggy biscuit, like she hasn't broken your heart?"

"Not gonna happen Cook" I said evenly " I guess she is always gonna like cock better than this frankly superior piece of arse... so we may have a problem there. The plan is still to ditch Serge and his sisters here. They know the place well enough to survive, and I think without that old fucker around...who I think was definitely giving his daughters more than just home education, judging by what Anna's told me, they will want to stay anyway. Whether Katie will want to play happy families with the Incest Sisters and Serge, remains to be seen"

"You mean the old guy was fucking his own kids?" Cook said in horror.

"Wouldn't be the first time..." I said. "Keeping it in the family is quite common in some isolated areas"

"Fuck me...I've led a very sheltered life" Cook mumbled, staring out of the window and rubbing his chin reflectively.

"That, I _very_ much doubt Cook" I grinned

He shot me a cheeky grin, and gave my half covered tits the once over yet again.

"Don't suppose you fancy a second go Eff?" he smirked " I mean...Cookie boy is always ready for extra helpings"

I opened my mouth to tell him to get to fuck...then thought...why not? Its raining, I'm half naked anyway, and he wasn't a bad shag...for a guy.

I pulled my shirt open and laid back on the overstuffed mattress.

"On two conditions" I said as he dropped his trousers . Fuck he is a big boy..I thought, as he climbed aboard the Skylark once again.

"One...you keep this...session... between ourselves, otherwise little Cookie will never visit paradise, ever again"

"And the other?" he smiled as I grasped him firmly in my hand and guided him towards nirvana.

"This time... if you want to finish anywhere other than where you are now...make sure I'm not in the room when you do"

"Understood princess" he said, beginning to move inside me " I've got enough mental images from last time to get me through a few lonely nights"

My disgusted expression made him roar with laughter. I hooked my heels behind his hips and started to deal with the matter in...hand...as it were. Katie Fitch could fucking wait.


	28. Chapter 28

Emily

Just when I thought the bleak, empty world around me would finally finish me off...my big brave soldier rescued me. I've been such a fool, worrying about the way she is with other people. Its the way she is with _me_ that counts, isn't it?

Laying here beside her, watching her sleep with that little frown she has when she's dreaming, I honestly think if a thermonuclear weapon detonated above us now, my only regret would be wasting so much time _not_ being with her. Life without her would be unthinkable. I made myself a promise yesterday, after we had exhausted ourselves making love, that if anything happens to her, I go too. No fuss, no regrets, I'd just take my old friend Mr Glock 9mm and end it for me too. Life without her wouldn't have anything to offer. I think I've finally given in to what my heart has been telling me. I _love_ her. Not just a little but, not like I have in the past with other women, but wholeheartedly, unguarded and completely. Because that's what she does...she completes me.

She stirred in her sleep, and reached blindly for me. I snuggled into her arms and saw her mouth twitch into a small, satisfied smile. She loves me...I know that now, as completely as I love her. Last night, before we eventually fell into an exhausted sleep after proving that, over and over again...she had a little cry, and I saw past that hard exterior into the same fears and uncertainties I have been having for months. I realised then that we are the same...all of us. Effy, with her fuck you attitude, besotted with my stupid sister, but underneath, unsure, timid...Cook, the physically bravest of all, worried about everyone, including himself...Anna, who's lost her brother, even if he was a shit...Jake and Harry, young and scared, certain only of each other...and even Katie, with her vapid search for the next erection, trying to value herself by how attractive and desirable she is to the next guy...We'd had a long talk, me and Katie, after we stopped screaming at each other outside. We went out of the village and sat on the sea wall, watching the Atlantic swells break over the harbour wall. For the first time in years, she broke down and admitted she was terrified, scared of being alone, scared I would leave her and go off with Naomi...scared she had hurt Effy so much they would never be close again. But mostly, scared of herself. Scared of what she had become. I hugged her for a long time before she calmed down.

So things have settled a bit. Except the weather turned much worse last night, with a massive winter storm sweeping in from the West. Hailstones like golf balls and 60mph winds. Luckily the Bombardier...which Harry has nicknamed The Goose, after some guy in that ancient Top Gun film, is under cover. There isn't a proper hangar, not like Naomi said it was stored in at Brest airport, but the huge open ended shed at the island airfield was just big enough to take her. Cook and Jake have used tarpaulins and ropes to protect the plane until we get a break in the weather good enough to get us out of here. If this storm is anything to go by, they were bang on, when Cook and Naoms decided this place isn't where we can spend the next 4 months. We have to get to Madeira Strangely enough, Serge, Clemence and Emilie were fine with the idea of them staying behind. I suppose its always been home to them. Now their father is dead, and the two girls don't have to deal with his, err...night time visits, they just want to get back to the farmhouse and carry on trying to eke out a living with the sheep and chickens. I thought Serge would make more of a fuss, especially after he's been nailing Katie nightly, but he just shrugged apparently, and went over to where his sisters are staying. I got all this second hand, of course. Naomi and I have been...busy...for the past 24 hours. We did emerge for food and drink, braving the inevitable smirks from Effy and Katie and the sexist jokes from Cook, but fuck it, it was worth it. Naomi's little smiles and touches made it all seem pretty unimportant.

So now I needed to wake sleeping beauty. Much as I enjoy watching her sleep, I have two problems...I need to pee, and I need to make us both breakfast. Endless sex makes you hungry, yeah?

I carefully extricated myself from her arms, earning a small sleepy grumble for my trouble and padded naked to the bathroom. After using the loo, I then splashed my face with cold water, waking myself up enough to pull a tee shirt over my head and creep down to the kitchen. Five minutes later, I had boiled a kettle for coffee, and toasted three slices of thick homemade bread under the grill. All the cottages had propane tanks, and although we were running out of replacement bottles, there was enough left to do us until we flew out. I spread some creamy butter on the doorstep slices and grabbed a jar of homemade gooseberry jam from the larder. I was just bending over to pull a bottle of full fat cows milk from the bottom of the cold store cupboard when I heard a noise behind me.

" _Nice_ fucking view Emily... I can see why Naomi can't get out of bed to get her own breakfast!"

Effy stood at the door, still openly perving at my bare arse.

I straightened up and gave her an ironic look.

"Your best friend Naomi wouldn't be happy to see you leching over my naked bum, Eff" I grinned.

She smirked knowingly.

"Ahhh, Emily Fitch...there was a time when your girlfriend and I hunted in pairs. There were at least a couple of occasions when we did a lot more than just perv on a pretty arse together"

"Oh yeah?" I grinned " You'll have to tell me more about that...Naomi is quite the one for a run down sex memory lane. She knows quite a bit more about my adolescent fumbling now than she did yesterday"

Effy threw her head back and laughed out loud.

"That's my Naomi, alright" she said, still chuckling " Always liked a bit of verbal encouragement!"

To be honest, I got a bit of a jealous twinge at that comment. I'd forgotten that Naoms and Effy had been a lot more than best friends in the past.

"Should I be jealous?" I said, letting the tone of my voice betray me.

"Not really" Effy said seriously "She's all yours now Fitch. I've never seen her so pussy whipped. Don't know what your 'special skills' are hun, but she seems to be thriving on them"

It was my turn to smirk.

"I have my moments. I said slyly " Quite a lot of them, recently"

Suddenly her face got serious again.

"Don't hurt her again Emily" she said "I've never seen her so low. When you split up she was inconsolable. I'm not sure I could deal with it if it happened again...I think she would give up and just walk away from us all, and I couldn't cope with that"

"I really love her Eff" I murmured " More than I can say...is that enough for you to believe me?"

"Who knows...maybe it will be. It will have to do for now, anyway"

She gave me a cheeky smile to break the sudden tension.

"You'll have to get her to tell you the story about the threesome with sexy Monica and the double ended dildo.."

"What?" I grinned " You tell me! You can't just say that and then not give it all up"

Effy grinned again.

"Monica was a supply teacher at our 6th form college, back in Bristol. Naomi and I were in our last term, and Monica was only there for the last 4 weeks, when we were doing last minute exam prep. She was about 23 or 24 I suppose. Long blonde hair, big tits and a face like an angel, but we soon found out how misleading that was... Naomi and I used to swap stories about what we'd like to do with her in the store cupboard. Her and me were sort of shagging each other occasionally then, but it was more of a casual kinda thing. I was still officially going out with this guy called Freddie, but he was stoned half the time and couldn't get it up enough to satisfy me. Me and Naoms more or less used each other as an escape valve. She wasn't seeing anyone then, so we used to stay at each others house at weekends and...explore other options..."

I swallowed my sharp and immediate stab of jealousy at that remark. No point in me getting arsey about ancient history, was there?

"And..." I said " What about this Monica?"

Effy smiled slightly and her eyes had that faraway look you get when memories suddenly get real and vivid in your mind.

"Well, we had this end of term party at Naomi's house. Her mum was in Ireland, at her mans parents, so we had the place to ourselves. We cooked up a plan to get Monica there. She was pretty easy to persuade. She was only 5 years older than us, and it wasn't until she got there, that she realised it was going to be a party for three..."

"Fuck..." I said...you mean.. You and Naoms...AND Monica?"

"Yep" Effy grinned " Two bottles of Shiraz and about three spliffs later...we made a move on her"

"What, both of you?" I said, my throat suddenly dry at the image of Naomi, Effy and this Monica...naked...doing it"

"Well, I started the ball rolling when Naomi was upstairs getting more drugs. I kissed Monica, and she kissed back. But good old Miss was more than just bi curious. Turned out she'd been watching me and Naomi getting friendly at school and wasn't averse to some girlie fumbling herself. Turned out to be quite the dominatrix actually. Fucked us both rigid by the morning. Shame I lost that mobile phone, the pictures were epic.

"Christ!" I said, suddenly losing interest in my now cold toast and coffee "So how was it...I mean...what sort of...like, what does a dominatrix even do...?"

"It was rough. and messy...but interesting" Effy smiled..." But I think I should let your girlfriend fill you in on all the best bits...Naomi quite likes it rough sometimes, you should ask her...She gets quite vocal"

"Yes you should" a voice from the doorway said sardonically. Naomi stood there with an evil grin on her face, dressed in a short tee and not much else "I think you need to come back to bed this minute Fitch. If you want all the gory details, you should be warned that I quite like to be 'hands on' when I give away all my dirtiest secrets"

I knocked the chair over in my rush to get up. Both the other women giggled at my clumsiness. When I passed Naomi on my way upstairs, she grabbed my bum in her hand and growled at me to hurry. Fuck the toast, I thought...I have more exotic morsels in mind.

I heard Effy muttering to Naomi as I climbed the stairs, shedding my tee as I got to the bedroom door. When Naomi came in and stripped hers off too, my mouth hung open like a loon. I still couldn't quite believe this was happening. Naomi, naked, with me... Now.

"What did Effy say?" I said as she climbed onto the bed with me and straddled my thighs as I fell back.

"She said can we be as loud as humanly possible...I think those memories have got her as horny as you are now...someone's gonna be giving herself some serious self pleasuring any minute, if I know Elizabeth Stonem. She does like a soundtrack to get off to.

"Jesus" I moaned as Naomi bent and took one of my nipples in her mouth, biting down on it hard

"This is so fucking... _filthy_...You two...drive me crazy...I love it..."

"You have no idea _how_ filthy I can get babe...we haven't even started on my fantasies yet...

She took my hands and raised them over my head.

"Stay right there..." She growled sexily " stay right fucking _there_ "

I did, watching her with eyes stoned with lust as she scrabbled in the wardrobe, finally coming back with three long silk scarves. My face told her, I think, that I knew what was coming...apart from me that is. that was fucking inevitable given the heat between my legs...and she hadn't touched me there...yet.

She tied both my hands together above my head to the metal bed frame. Not too tight, but enough to make it difficult for me to move. Then she moved down the bed and tied an ankle to each side of the bed posts. I was properly spreadeagled. Open, wet and ready for her to do what she liked.

She looked at me for a moment, and the anticipation made me squirm. her nipples were as hard as mine were, but unlike me, she could move her hands. I squirmed some more as she raked my body with covetous eyes.

"You want me to tell you about me and Effy fucking Monica that night?" She said quietly

I groaned helplessly as she trailed her fingernails up my stomach, around each aching nipple and back down, before dipping the very tip of her index finger inside me. She straddled my waist then sucked my excitement off her finger slowly.

"OK" she whispered..."But while I'm telling you...you have to watch me do...this.. while I tell you..."

With that she moved up further until her cunt was just above my face and her legs astride my head. I stretched out my tongue and managed to taste her nectar briefly before she rose an agonising inch out of reach.

"Oh no honey..." she said , looking down at my flushed face. "You can watch, and listen first"

She reached down with one elegant hand and slid a finger inside her folds, searching for, and finding her small, pearl like clit. She began to circle it delicately. Her other hand moved up until it was cupping and kneading her breast. Her eyes held mine as she touched herself deliberately slowly. I groaned in frustration... I could see her wetness, her growing excitement as she teased me. So close, but so far from my parched mouth.

I nearly went mad that morning. She took over 15 frustrating minutes to tell her story. Every lurid and erotic detail. By the time she finally lost it, and knelt lower so I could feed on her, I was keening like a lost fawn, writhing in the grip of the restraints and thrashing madly to reach her. When she came, she looked into my eyes as I sucked and licked her desperately. Finally when the aftershocks were over, and she reached up to release my hands, which had gone numb from the scarves tight grip, she laid on top of me and slid one slim arm between our bodies. I felt her enter me with two straight fingers all at once. She thrust and twisted them hard, sawing them in and out of me. I think if Effy hadn't already rubbed herself to a crashing orgasm, the sound of me coming would have made a statue jump. I think she got her money's worth that day. Soundtrack indeed...

Naomi gently untied my legs one by one, and stretched out beside me.

"Was that graphic enough for you baby" she breathed in my ear "Hot enough?"

"Fucking hell Naoms, I think you may just have killed me " I murmured as exhaustion overtook me. "Sleep?..." I managed, before my eyes closed...

XXX

And then. all too soon, this beautiful, exhausting honeymoon was over. Naomi's leg healed, leaving only a thin silvery scar, and with the amount of horizontal physiotherapy we had been giving each other, we were finally ready to face the world again. I took one last lingering look at the bedroom as we left it for the last time. We didn't make the bed, our last slow and languorous love making had left the sheets tangled and damp, but I guess the cottage owners may have had a lull in bookings lately, so we left it. Fuck it, they can send us the cleaning bill...

We made a strange little crocodile, walking up the slight incline to the only decent road on the island. I wouldn't miss Ushant's crappy weather and bleak landscape. But I would have some happy memories to take with me to God knows where. Naomi had certainly increased my knowledge of her past...several times, accompanied by some fairly exotic restraint methods... More of that later...

So we joined Katie, Anna, Mauricio, Effy, Jake, Harry and Cook at the waiting island bus. It was still serviceable after Jake and Cook had spent a couple of hours on it yesterday. All the guns, ammo, food, medical supplies and sundries had already been loaded onto the Goose, and I felt another twinge of guilt that I hadn't helped much with all that manual labour. It didn't help when Cook, with his usual disregard for any type of decorum, kidded me about my total contribution to the cause being 'between the pilots legs' It might have been accurate, but I blushed anyway at the winks and smirks from the others. Katie didn't help, pulling out a pair of ear defenders and tossing them on the ground.

"Don't need these any more" she grinned "The sound of the plane taking off will definitely be quieter than Campbell screaming the place down every night"

My "Fuck off Katie" was drowned in laughter.

And so we drove along the deserted road, each of us looking out of the windows at the grey, leaden sky. It wasn't raining, which made a change, but it was still grim and forbidding. I was glad we were getting out of here. Whatever the future held for our little band of vagabonds, it had to be better than this...

XXX

Naomi

My leg still gave me the odd twinge as I pulled myself up into the cockpit. Cook and Jake had done a brilliant job with the 'Goose'. Fully loaded with arms and supplies, and topped up with Jet A from the airfield tanks, they'd even managed to get up even earlier than the rest of us and taxi the old girl out onto the apron. I started the pre flight checks as Cook shepherded everyone inside the passenger section. The seats were basic and uncomfortable, lined up on each side of the fuselage, but hopefully, a bit of discomfort would be worth it. We wouldn't exactly be offering in flight movies and complimentary drinks, but once we were in level flight, they would be allowed to get up and walk about

Cook sat next to me as I went through the checklist. Both engines started on the button, and soon settled to a low even thrum. All the lights were green, and as I checked the fuel LCD's for the 3rd time I took a deep breath. I had our whole future in our hands now. It wasn't just me and Jake, fleeing the horrors of mainland Europe now. This time I had every persons life in my care. Oh, well... Fuck it, I thought, if we go out in a flare of aviation fuel in the North Atlantic, at least I can say we tried. Unlike those poor fuckers back there. Although I wasn't unhappy to leave Ushant, and its only resident family. I felt a bit of a twinge of guilt. But they had been adamant about staying. I just hoped next Spring didn't bring an influx of Walking Dead to spoil their isolation.

The engines escalated the in cabin noise to a brutish roar as the two big turbofans opened up as I pushed forward the throttles. 'Goose' hummed and strained against the wheel brakes as I checked the flaps and warning lights yet again. Cook yelled something about fucking Geronimo as I took off the brakes, and the aircraft lurched forwards. I held the control stick and let the excitement of take off make me smile too. I don't know about fucking long dead Indian Chiefs, but this was fun...

Goose gathered speed, and soon the bumpy concrete smoothed out as she lifted inches off the tyres. "Rotate... V One", I said automatically as the nose began to lift. Jake whooped from the jump seat behind us as the plane left the island runway behind and roared gracefully into her natural element, I retracted the undercarriage and eased the flaps off maximum as she climbed steeply. Our service ceiling was about 14000 feet, but as it was a shortish hop over to the mainland, I kept her below 10,000 feet. Not that there was much to see, once we got over Brittany. Lots of fields, lots of empty roads and no people. I set the course for Faro, in southern Portugal, and levelled her out. Job done...well at least for now. We were all safe(ish) up here, we had ample fuel, and if Faro turned out to be a smoking ruin, we would just bank away and do the whole trip in one. I gave Cook the controls as we were flying straight and level, and went back to check on our passengers. Cooks shouted advice to join the mile high club, so long as I took pictures, was ignored, as usual...Not that shagging Emily in flight wasn't quite tempting, but maybe the others might object...

XXX

Effy

Take off was fun, I suppose, but the rest of the journey down to the Algarve started off pretty uneventful. Except for the fact that Katie was sitting dead opposite me, trying her hardest to avoid my eyes. I thought we'd cleared this bullshit up on Ushant. I fancied her...we both knew that. We'd shagged a few times...she realised she preferred her cocks to be flesh and blood, and not rubberized, and I had dealt with it. Simple?

Bollocks, I thought, as her eyes darted away for the tenth time as I caught her gaze. I'm fed up with this. Unbuckling myself and shedding my life jacket, which Auntie Naoms had insisted we all wear until we were back over land, I stood up and crossed the plane.

"Katie?" I said, holding out my hand, which she looked at as if it held a live snake "We need to talk...now. Come with me"

I'd never seen uncertainty in those big brown eyes before, but I saw it now. What the fuck she was scared of, I don't know. I wasn't about to throw her out of the loading door, was I?

But she unbuckled herself, and followed me to the rear. There was an avionics booth there, with two padded chairs and a bank of instruments, none of which I understood for a moment. She followed me in and stood with the door open, watching me.

"Close the fucking door Katie" I growled "If I'd wanted to off you, I would have picked a less public place than an aircraft full of witnesses"

The small smile she allowed to escape at least told me she would listen, and she shut the door behind her, leaning back on it. I closed to within a few inches of her, and noticed with sadness the tiny flinch as I reached up and brushed her cheek.

"Don't worry, Fitch' I'm not about to try to gay you up now. I think you've made it pretty clear where you stand. But I just wanted to say...no fuck it, I just wanted to explain...nope, bollocks, I can't form words with you this close...so I'm just gonna have to show you instead"

I pressed against her and lifted her chin so she was looking straight at me.

"I'm going to kiss you now...and you're going to fucking _let_ me. I'm not trying to change your mind and I'm not expecting you to participate, or even enjoy it. But this might be the last chance I get. If we get to Madeira OK, I'm sure you will be able to find a stiff cock to sing you a bedtime lullaby. So this is by way of a goodbye, and thank you for... You already know you're a mint fuck Katie, so I won't bother flattering you. But you mean something to me, fuck knows why,..I seem to go for lost causes. This is just for me...and then I'll walk away. I won't embarrass you again"

And I pulled her into the softest, wettest, most hungry kiss I could give...and it went on, and on. Rather than pull away,, she leaned in. Rather than reject my tongue, she hunted it out...rather than protest, she whimpered, then she grabbed and then...she pulled back and breathed hotly in my ear.

"Fuck this...I'm fed up with pretending"

And she took my hand, kissed the knuckles before guiding it down the front of her jeans. She was so wet, my finger slid into her without resistance.

"Are you sure?" I whispered in her ear as she groaned and pushed against my stroking finger

"I think if you don't fuck me now, right here, Effy Stonem, I might just go mad. In any case, you don't want my sister and her soldier girl to beat us to the mile high club, do you?"

"Of course not" I said, panting as she ground her hand on my crotch, searching for the zip

"Consider yourself a member already"

And she was. Manually, orally and completely. By the time she had returned the favour, I don't think anyone on the plane was in any doubt what was going on in the avionics suite. When we finally emerged, embarrassed, disheveled and grinning at each other, the round of applause overcame the sound of the noisy twin engines. Emily and Naomi stood wrapped round each other by the cockpit door, grinning at us.

"Oi Fitch?" Naomi shouted "I don't think THAT is in the flight manual for the Bombardier"

"Well it fucking should be" Katie growled as the laughter from our fellow passengers echoed off the air frame for a long minute

"Virgin Atlantic don't offer this level of service, last time I looked"

XXX

Naomi

I didn't know if landing at Faro would even be possible. Back in the days of sunshine and cool drinks, the Algarve was one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe. Hundreds and thousand of pasty white northern Europeans had arrived daily, bound for beach side resorts. Two weeks later, they left, tanned and carrying souvenirs. Some if the souvenirs included Chlamydia and unwanted tiny passengers, but those days care definitely behind us. I guessed it would be as deserted and stripped clean as Brest, but maybe we would be lucky this time. Madeira was more popular with older people, so if Faro was OK, we might find Funchal even better.

Didn't work like that of course.

I approached from the sea, even though the normal landing run was parallel to it. I wanted to make a low, slow pass over the airport before trying to put her down. We got down to about 500 feet before I saw it. Bodies...strewn over the tarmac, surrounding a helicopter and a couple of light aircraft. Lots of fucking bodies...hundreds.

I circled for a couple of slow circuits, but it looked like a war zone down there. I mentally thanked Cook and Jake yet again for topping the tanks up over the maximum. It was a risk, aviation fuel is notoriously unstable, but we were going to need every drop of fuel to get to Funchal now. I had a quiet conversation with Cook as we banked away and climbed back to the most efficient altitude for the next 3 hours flying. My decision not to land there was vindicated in triplicate when Jake spotted a military vehicle gunning its way out of a terminal hangar. Those orange flashes from the flatbed were definitely a machine gun. There was no chance of them actually hitting us, as we were climbing steeply and the truck was weaving round bodies and debris, but I wasn't taking anything for granted, not with the lives of my friends in my hands.

Once we were back on course for Madeira, I went back with Jake to brief the others. With no windows in the back, they would have been badly scared by the violent maneuvering, so I owed them an explanation. Emily came over and quietly stood beside me, her small hand slipping into mine. Effy and Katie were almost sitting in each others laps, but I even managed a reassuring smile for the toxic twin. I still didn't trust her...but Effy looked happy, and that was something..Anna held Mauricio close to her chest as he cried silently and Harry just stared at her brother with big eyes as we explained that Faro wasn't an option any more. We were putting all our chips on Madeira now...

Half an hour later, I was alone in the cockpit. Jake and Cook had gone back to have a short kip in the avionics cabin and the others were taking the chance to get some rest too. Its amazing how quickly people get used to the soldiers routine. Up early, eat on the run band grab every minute of sleep, no matter where you are. Treat your body like a laptop battery and recharge it when you can, wherever you can. Emily was behind me, stirring some sugar into my coffee, and I felt her leaning over the padded seat, holding the steaming cup in front of me.

"Thanks babe..." I said gratefully "Only about 2 hours to go till we begin descent into Funchal...the airport is out of town a few miles, and I want to have a real good look before I put her down. Any problems and we'll fly up the coast, and I'll land her in the first shallow bay or lake. We're not taking chances...precious cargo, and all that"

I winked at her as she leaned over me, her arms round my neck from behind

I have a bit of a problem Naoms" she whispered in my ear.

"Oh?" I said, shivering from the slight contact of her lips on my ear

"Yeah..." She said huskily " My sister has beaten me to the mile high club...how fucking fair is that?"

I grinned at her mock worried voice

"I think we might have to let her have that one Ems...I can't exactly leave the controls and ravish you right now, can I?"

"Doesn't mean I can't...help you...with your...checklist...does it" she purred, punctuating the words with slow unbuttoning of my shirt.

"Emily?" I said weakly " maybe this isn't the best idea...I mean...oh fucking hell"

The last because she had cupped one of my bra covered breasts and squeezed it firmly. Her other hand was burrowing into my cargo pants. I think the fact that I spread my legs instantly told her I wasn't seriously protesting.

"You concentrate on flying the plane, honey, and I'll...just...play with the...instruments"

Thank God the Bombardier virtually flies itself. I don't think the Canadian company that made it wrote this sort of scenario into their simulator. Ten very satisfying minutes later, I threw my head back and howled my release, as Emily finger fucked me roughly. She straightened up after re buttoning my pants, and looked down at my goofy, post orgasmic grin.

"I'd make a fucking ace trolley dolly" she said wickedly, raising a cheeky eyebrow " Fuck the duty frees... I offer a very 'personal' service for special customers"

She sucked her fingers clean and turned to leave the cabin.

"Don't let your coffee go cold!" She threw over her shoulder.

"Fuck me Emily Fitch..." I thought..."You may very well be the death of me...but I probably won't care at the time it happens"


	29. Chapter 29

Effy

This is fucking paradise. Well at least as close to paradise as we're ever likely to get, what with the world blown to fuck and the majority of human life extinct, by the looks of it. We got a restricted sideways view of Madeira Airport as we banked over it when Naomi dropped down for a look. Fucked...just like every other airport in the world, except the dusty strip in Ushant we left 12 hours ago. It was almost dark when she put the plane down in a large inland lagoon at the far end of the island. Lucky for us the Goose is happy to land on water. We didn't fancy putting down in the growing dusk at an airport which looked eerily and unpleasantly familiar. Faro was exactly the same. Deserted mostly, but covered in debris, burned out vehicles and bodies. Looked like the last people to leave before they switched off the lights had a bit of a barney with their neighbours. We couldn't get low enough to see anything too gruesome, but it was obvious there wasn't anyone left alive on the strip.

Well, that was over 2 months ago. We didn't come ashore until the following morning, preferring to sleep on the floor of the 'Goose'. Next day, Cook swam ashore and found a large dinghy in a boathouse a few hundred yards along. We ferried ourselves and the majority of our supplies ashore and then set up camp in some log cabins which had obviously been tourist places back when people could still take holidays. There was a fresh water spring which fed the complex and a clubhouse. The diesel generator which gave electricity to the place was a bit knackered, but Cook, Harry and Jake got it going with a bit of help from me and Katie, after we commandeered a Suzuki 4x4 and found a small fuel tank a half mile up the dusty approach road. There weren't a lot of supplies left, so the first few days, after Naomi and Cook had set up a perimeter with some fancy special forces trip wires and stuff, we set out to explore and basically steal what we could. A week into our visit, we found a better place to stay. A large hostel type building, a bit further inland, with its own water and fuel supply. The place we had landed was a huge flat bowl of land, with the lake at one end, and miles of featureless scrub all around. Not the prettiest of locations, but ideal to spot trouble from. Nowhere for an ambush or sneak attackers to hide, so despite the fact that it wasn't as pretty as the surrounding hills and forests, we stuck it out there.

A month in, we had got a pretty good thing going. Emily and Harry were our chief scroungers. Harry in particular had a gift for finding anything Cook told her we needed. And with Emily doing her mother hen bit with a straight girl, at least we didn't have to worry about a repeat of the 'Emilie/Emily' problem. Naomi was more relaxed than I have ever seen her, which is a good and bad thing. Good because she dotes on Emily so much, its like the biggest _ahhh_ you have ever seen. Bad because she isn't as focussed on keeping us all alive, which might or might not be a problem in the future.

Cook and Jake were like the numero uno operators in the camp. You name it, they either found it, or improvised it. We even had a 15 foot rush matted canopy put up, so we could all sit out and watch the sun go down over the mountains at night. It was like fucking Safari Night sometimes. When Katie and I had come back from a gathering trip with the obligatory 12 bottles of local vodka and some fruit juice, you could almost close your eyes and imagine the world hadn't changed much. We sat out that night until 2 am, drinking vodka cocktails, smoking the diminishing bag of weed Cook had magicked up from his lone trip to Funchal, and listening to Florence on the old CD player which we had preserved from the Cornwall days. We were getting low on AA batteries, but as Cook said, "Lets go fucking _mental_...for once"

The resultant hangover lasted two fucking days. None of us were used to partying much now, but it was good to let our hair down and have fun. None of us were over 25, for fucks sake. Even at the end of the world, we needed to let off steam. The night had also been memorable for certain other...activities. But more of that later. Lets just say for now that Jake and Anna were missing for over an hour at the height of the festivities, and he looked slightly more worldly when he came back from Anna's cabin. Naomi and Emily sloped off just after 1 am, saying they were tired...yeah, right. I don't think the sounds that we laughed about when a loud track ended were the result of light sleeping. "Oh God, Naomi, just there...just there **FUCK**!" is a bit of a give-away. Not to mention the ferocious love bite Naomi had on her neck next morning. I think we can safely say that the affair goes from strength to strength.

Me and Katie? Well, so far so good. She's not exactly stuck to me like glue...a la Naomi and Emily, but we live in the same cabin, we sleep together, we fuck most nights, and she calls me babe a lot. She still got a far away look in her eye when someone mentioned cock, but I've found a solution to that little problem. Lets just say, because I don't want to spoil the surprise, that Cook can come in handy occasionally for extra duties, as long as they are spelled out clearly for him in advance. I've never been much of a possessive woman, even when I was a teenager. A fucks a fuck, and as I've, shall we say, tasted fruit from both sides of the valley, I'm not like a lot of females in love. Don't get me wrong. I do love Katie, in a sort of loose arrangement kind of way, but she's always been a girl who needs some meat as well as salad, if you get me. Now I could pretend I don't know that, and risk her sneaking off to bone the nearest male when I'm not looking. Or I could do what I'm doing, which is to bring the problem in house, as it were. Cook is up for a bit of threesome stuff, as I've already described. And regulated properly, it kinda works for all of us. He visits once a week, after we've made him shower and dispose of whatever hideously scented socks he's currently wearing, and Katie and I 'entertain' him.

I go down on Katie...he watches...he shags Katie, I join in later... at the proper junctures. He shags me briefly...Katie sits on my face. He gets over excited at the wonders of Keffy goodness on show, and Katie eventually disposes of the evidence. One swallow actually _can_ make a summer...believe me.

He goes his way, satisfied, and I get to cuddle and whisper to La Fitch until we sleep...after she has thoroughly mouth washed and flossed... Next morning, Cook goes around with a shit eating grin on his face, which means I get lots of sly digs from Naomi, and Katie and I get back to living together as a couple. Simples.

And so it went on. Then Harry came back from a trip up into the mountains with a small package. A small package called Sergio. Turns out he was a 16 year old Italian boy, who was on holiday with his parents when the balloon went up. Got separated when the population started to self destruct, and had been living on berries and stolen food ever since. He looked like fucking Mowgli when she found him, all tangled black hair and ragged shorts. But half an hour in a proper bath, a good meal, which he polished off in milliseconds, and he was all of a sudden part of our group. Well, I say part of our group. Within a week he was certainly part of Harry's group. I suppose it was inevitable. He was 16, all white teeth and Italian good looks, she is 16 going on 25, and has been watching us 'grown ups' shag each other senseless ever since she turned up on the roof of our bomb shelter back in Cornwall. Hormones and all that?

The first sign of trouble was when Jake came to see me and Katie about 8 days after Sergio arrived. He'd been looking for his little sister, and found her...unfortunately sans trousers... being...manually _pleasured_ I suppose the word is, by Sergio in the spare cabin. I think the activity was mutual.. He gave the boy a slap round the head and sent him on his way, but as we said...They're both teenagers... its inevitable. I remembered what I was like at 16, but I thought it best not to be too explicit about that period of my life...I don't think Jake would have been too reassured if I told him about my own explorations at that time...

So, we tried to pacify him, and then had Harry in for a talking to. We couldn't stop her shagging Sergio, but Katie gave her 'the talk' and with a fresh supply of condoms and some older sister type tips, sent her off to find her new boyfriend. Unwanted sex is one thing, unwanted babies are quite another. I suppose the fact that the two permanent couples in the group were primarily lesbian does make you forget that when a guy and a girl get together...things can happen.

Anyway...Jake got over it, Harry and Sergio disappeared a couple of times a day to...discuss teenage things...and life went on.

Do you remember that Dickens book A Tale of Two Cities? It begins with the line

 _"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..._

So apart from the fact that Dickens was a fucking cool writer (and that he's out of copyright, so he can't sue me for using this opening paragraph) he also had an uncanny knack of hitting the nail on the proverbial. It _was_ the best of times, certainly since we had been catapulted into this post apocalyptic world, but it would also turn out to be the worst of times. Especially for me.

XXX

Katie

I knew we shouldn't have involved Cook in our little Saturday night sessions. OK, I'm not gonna say that a stiff cock isn't a welcome addition to me and Effy's normal routine. Eff is about the best cunning linguist I am ever likely to meet, especially now the majority of the population is cosmic dust, but now and again a girl likes some rough loving, you know? Cook isn't the world most considerate lover, but when he's into his stride, he has a way of, I don't know, _overwhelming_ you, thats a bit of a fucking turn on. No, strike that, its a lot of a turn on. Bites, scratches, swearing...he loves it all. When he's inside me and pounding away like he wants to drive me through the mattress, I remember why I still love dick. Effy is effortlessly imaginative in the sack, and when she found that strap on in an abandoned house weeks ago, she gave me the benefit of it several times a night, if I wanted it. But it's not the same, is it? For a start, although I can see the upside of being gay, sucking on a plastic dick isn't quite as stimulating as the real thing. Call me old fashioned. I like real cock.

Effy tolerates him, and his ever present erection, because she knows that now and then I like to get down and dirty with a 'couldn't give a fuck' man. Its not personal. I don't crave his company other than when I'm horny, and I certainly don't want to wake up next to a bristly, smelly guy the morning after. But when he's in his rightful place, just after Effy has primed the pump, as it were, I can see the attraction, shall we just leave it at that?

So we were settled into this routine, until Cook goes and fucks it up. Not in a big way. He's not asked me to run off with him or anything like that. But he's started to get a bit possessive. A few snide remarks about being used, at breakfast (Like he wasn't eager enough to get his dick damp when we asked him) and a few more barbed comments during the week, when Effy pulled me up by the hand and took me to bed. I mean, he knew it was just sex between me and him, right? Its not like I fucking love him or anything, is it. Effy doesn't need a translation, when someone is being nasty to her. She picks up on anything a bit off. And he was being a bit of a cunt lately, to be honest.

Finally, we ended up having a row in the middle of the compound, just before bedtime. Naomi and Emily were probably already diving for pearls and muff, and Harry and Sergio were certainly neck and neck in the 'who can shag who the most times' competition. Anna was asleep with Jake and Mauricio, and so it was just the three of us, hanging out with a potent spliff and hot chocolate before bedtime.

"Time for bed, my little pillow princess" Effy smirked before lifting my hand and kissing the palm. "I feel the need...the need for speed" she misquoted Tom Cruise dorkily. I smiled up at her and started to get up.

"Need some mobile stiffness to make the party complete?" Cook said, leering at my tits, as per...

"Not required on journey Cook" Effy said simply, not even looking at him.

"Fucking typical" Cook growled "Left out again. Came in useful on Saturday night though, didn't I Stonem? Good job Katie _loves_ to swallow babe, isn't it?...wouldn't like to make your sheets sticky"

"Fuck off Cook" we both said in unison.

Effy looked at him coolly and flashed him a totally insincere smile.

"Maybe it was a mistake involving you, dickhead" she said said frostily "After all, a few moments pleasure isn't worth having to look at you the rest of the time"

I gasped a bit at that. She knew how to hurt, and to be fair, Cook had done more than anyone, apart from Emilys personal muff muncher, to save us from certain death.

"Look Cook..." I started. Cock blocking him tonight was one thing, but I didn't want to be the cause of a real rift in our relationship. We needed Cook for more than just R & R.

"Naah, sugar tits" He smiled boozily at me "Let her rip Katie. Our Eff doesn't like it because you scream my name when I give you the full Cookie hammer treatment. I ain't no blow up fucking doll, just there to make up the numbers"

He was dangerously pissed, and I didn't want this to go any further than it had already.

"Stop right now, both of you" I said, looking back and forth between them "This is gonna end up being totally out of control. Cook, what the fuck?...whatever sick idea you have about owning this fine arse is way out of line. Effy and me...well, we're an item, so get used to it. And Eff, babe" I reached out and tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away and looked at me with an eerily detached air.

"Eff?" I said weakly "Don't turn this into more than it is. I want you. I'm with you...isn't that enough?"

"Sometimes its never enough" she said cryptically "Night you two"

And with that she walked away into the darkness. I turned to Cook, who was grinning nastily at his success at driving Effy away.

"I said fuck _off_ Cook" I snarled, as he reached for my hand "This was a mistake, obviously. Behaving like a little boy with his sweets stolen isn't gonna get you into my knickers again. I love Effy...and if having you over for an occasional shag affects that, then its going to stop, like right now"

"Fine" he said, standing up and facing me "You fuck off and do whatever lezzers do for entertainment when there isn't a man there to finish the job. I'm fucking done with the pair of you"

And so there I was standing alone. Cook disappeared into the darkness, going fuck knows where. Effy was presumably gonna give me the cold shoulder for playing peacemaker...something which goes so much against the grain for yours truly its not even funny, and I felt like shit. Perfect end to a perfect evening.

XXX

Emily

Katie told me about the argument with Cook the next morning, and although I felt sorry for her, I gave her a lecture about having cakes and eating them too. She told me its OK for full time muff monkeys like me, because we didn't need the odd cock hors d'ouevre to make it complete. I sniggered when I remembered the use Naomi and I had once made of a random dildo back in Tresco, so I wasn't entirely unaware of the 'attractions' of larger implements, but I wasn't about to start revealing all to my sister.

But it was a problem. We relied on Cook to be the mainstay of our group. He was the soldier, the strongest physically and the equal in intelligence to Naomi when it came to group protection. We were rapidly running out of essentials, and we would need to go further and further inland for supplies, if we wanted to keep surviving. Having a fully functional and invested Cook was essential. I wasn't about to suggest that Katie give Cook some extra loving, just to make him feel right, but if he felt completely left out of all the bedtime musical chairs, he might start looking elsewhere for entertainment. Something none of us wanted.

And then we met Maria.

Again, it was Harry who spotted her, coming over an hill as we were about to descend into a small hamlet, looking for batteries and some flour. She looked uncannily like that Hispanic woman who flew the rebel attack craft in Avatar...can't remember her name. I'm gay, so I _can_ remember how fit she was in that black singlet top. All flashing eyes and perky tits. Well, that was Maria. She was with a couple of weedy looking guys in combats and green vests. She was in combats too, but the vest top she wore did far more for her than in did for them.

OK, I looked at her tits a bit, OK? I love Naomi, and I never want to fuck anyone else, if I live to be a hundred. But a girl can look, right? Window shopping is definitely allowed, even in a stable relationship.

We sort of circled each other, we were armed with Glocks and one Heckler semi automatic between us. The woman was carrying a sawn off shotgun on a sling, but the other two guys didn't look armed, unless you count the big fuck off knives on their belts.

Eventually, as we were obviously gonna have to talk, I waved at them, and lowered the rifle towards the ground. They approached us slowly, both guys looking nervously into the scrub either side of us, looking for our back up, no doubt.

"Habla Inglese?" I said in abysmal Spanish. Fuck it, I don't know any Portuguese, but I figured it was close enough. When they got within 5 metres, I motioned for them to stop. The scatter gun would have been more of an asset this close than my semi, but the side-arms evened things out as long as they came no closer.

"English?" she said, squinting against the sun behind me

"Si" I said..."Where are you from on the island"

"The other side of Funchal" she said in pretty good English...better than my Portuguese anyway. "My name is Maria...you?"

"Emily...We're just out scouting for supplies" I said. She was looking me up and down as I stood there, and I wished I had put a bra on this morning, despite the heat. My thin blue singlet was wet with sweat, and I didn't need to look down to know my nipples would be all too visible. I knew _that_ look too. I hadn't had that sheltered an upbringing. Too many nights in gay clubs, being eyed up by prospective predators told me that she wasn't looking for hidden weapons. She was definitely checking me out. She said something in rapid Portuguese to the guy nearest to her, and he smirked nastily. I lifted my weapon until it was between the floor and her waist, slipping the safety off quietly, but she saw it anyway.

"No problems" she smiled at me "Just telling my friend that you're very pretty. Because you are..very _very_ pretty" She licked her lips and took another tour round my tits.

She smiled again, but it was a predatory sort of smile, and didn't reach her eyes.

"How many of there are you?" she said in a low voice "Five...ten?"

I wasn't about to give her the full story, especially as she carried on looking at me as if she wanted to throw me down and fuck me there and then. I thought it was a good job Naomi wasn't here right now. One look at those way too interested Latino eyes, and my other half would be in full alpha bitch mode. I remembered how she had been when Jo had first joined up with us. Naomi doesn't do sharing. But then this woman certainly didn't look like the sharing type either.

"Quite a few" I said vaguely "We're well armed and protected"

She shrugged and said something else to her sidekick.

"Maybe we can meet sometime...get to know each other better" she said with a raised eyebrow. I didn't think she meant the groups. The way she wanted to know me was naked and horizontal.

"Maybe" I said. "But right now we're gonna head back. Getting dark soon?"

She nodded and pretended to be disinterested, but I told myself we would be taking a long circuitous route back, just in case.

"How many are _you_?" I tried, as we warily turned away from them

"Enough... _encantador mia_...enough" she said and winked as she too turned away.

We got back a coupe of hours later, after using several distraction routes. It was hot and dusty, even in the woodlands, so we were out on our feet by the time we stumbled back into camp. Cook was nowhere to be seen, but I made a beeline for my cabin, and Naomi was just inside the door when I walked in.

"I think we've got trouble" I said simply and she looked at me questioningly.

Anna was there too, as they were preparing a fish soup for tonight's meal. One of the delights of Portuguese food is Fisherman's Stew, but I had suddenly lost my appetite. I knew instinctively that Maria was trouble, not just for me, but the group too. She didn't look like someone who liked to share anything...especially women. After I asked Anna what 'encantador' meant...I realised I was right. She called me her lovely. Not good.

How bad it was going to get I had no fucking idea.


	30. Chapter 30

Emily

I woke up this morning with a headache and the unpleasant memory of an all too vivid dream I had just before waking. You know the ones that are so real, you think you can smell and taste things, not just see and hear them? Well, it was one of those. It started off OK, just the normal mix of random scenes and then Naomi was there, naked, in a chair, opposite where I was also lying naked on our bed. Now usually, thats just me dreaming about our last session, or imagining up something else for the next...but this was different. Yes, she was naked, sitting with her legs slightly open, and giving me the sort of look which is guaranteed to get me going in real life. The look that says she has something in mind to spice up our already awesome sex life. But although I could see her right hand lazily playing between her legs...something was off. Watching Naoms get herself off is one of my all time favourite pastimes. The lip biting, breathless moaning and furrowed brow do it for me every time. She doesn't normally get to finish the job, because the only thing better than watching her come on her own fingers is when I'm taking over and licking her through a noisy orgasm...but I had the strange feeling we weren't alone. Now Naoms and I have talked about threesomes...mainly at the point, in bed, when we had teased each other to the moment of no return, and alcohol is usually, if not always a factor. But actually _doing_ it is very definitely off the chart. I don't want to share her...and I know without a shadow of a doubt that she doesn't want to share me. Fantasies are one thing, reality is another. Katie and Effy have already found out that another participant, no matter how compliant, isn't always risk free.

But she kept looking over my shoulder, as I lay on my side facing her, as if there was something...or _someone_... there. The other thing about dreams is that you sometimes can't move your body when you really need to. So I just carried on watching Naomi's caress and tease herself. I could hear small, liquid sounds which told me that she was getting very excited, and she was looking at me as if she expected something to happen. Well it did. Just not what I expected to.

Over my shoulder I could hear a voice, in fractured but understandable English, asking her something urgently. Naomi's fingers speeded up, and she nodded eagerly, flicking her eyes over my body as she did. Then I felt hands on my back...smooth, female hands, exploring and squeezing me. I opened my mouth to protest, but Naomi looked at me with anger and in a strangled voice...told me not to be so silly.

"It's only _sex_ , Emily...lighten the fuck up. We need to do this... _you_ need to do this...for the group...for your sister's sake"

"What the fuck?" I thought..."What's Katie got to do with me being groped in front of my naked girlfriend?"

Then the voice behind me became more distinct... "Minha Querida" It said softly..."Just relax...you'll fucking _love_ this when its inside you...my little English tease"

I didn't seem to be able to struggle, and allowed the person behind me turn me onto my back...I heard the scrape of the chair which Naomi was sitting on, and suddenly she was right beside me, legs wider now, still touching herself, with eyes like hot coals as she watched the other woman fondle me.

"Just let her take you Emily" she said hotly "This is so fucking sexy...I want to see her fuck you...to make you come...do it for me baby"

I opened my mouth to say no...but just then, the outline of the other woman loomed over me. It was Maria...the Portuguese action woman I had met the other day. Stripped of her camo trousers and black singlet top. Her brown, dark tipped tits swaying as she straddled me. But it wasn't the lack of clothing that scared me...it was the big black strap on dildo she was wearing, sticking obscenely out in front of her...the straps clinging on to her legs and waist.

"N...No" I said weakly..."Naomi..you don't want this.. _.I_ don't want this... make her stop?"

I looked sideways at Naomi, but she was moving her fingers faster and faster, rolling her hips and making those little sounds in the back of her throat, which told me she was close. Her eyes were also on the dildo, but not horrified like mine...fascinated...excited.

" **Fuck** her Maria...fuck her _hard_ " she hissed, her voice catching as her fingers hit the sweet spot over and over again.

I felt the woman's strong hands arrange me so that I was open and helpless beneath her...then the smooth head of the plastic dick parting me there. I couldn't do anything...Naomi was now moaning and gasping as she got closer. I felt the false cock open me up and start to slide inside. Maria was leaning closer now, a wolfish grin on her face.

"Open up for me Emily" she hissed "I need to fuck you now lover... It's only fair I should sample the merchandise before I buy it...huh?"

"Yeah, be a good girl now Emsy" a sad voice said from the side of where Naomi was sitting "You get to be fucked by a pretty woman, hun...look what _I_ get to put up with"

Then I saw my sister Katie, naked to the waist...pinned between Maria's two Latino sidekicks, who were groping her tits...She had a stiff dick in each of her hands...looking at me reproachfully.

"Ah well...Show time, you crazy kids" Katie said, and bent sideways to take one erection in her mouth...

"No" I said again...this time stronger "No fucking _way_. I am not being screwed in front of my _sister_...stop... **NO**!"

XXX

And then I woke up. Wet with sweat, tangled in the sheets and wide eyed with fright.

Naomi was in the other room making morning coffee, and I heard her fast footsteps as she ran in to find out what all the fuss was about.

"Emily?" she said, trying not to spill the two full cups she was carrying "Nightmare babe?"

I struggled to sit up, still tangled in bedsheets, and stared at her brokenly.

"It was awful...fucking terrible Naoms" I said. And just burst into tears.

She put the cups down quickly and came over to the bed, enveloping me in her strong arms and whispering soothing words into my ear. I clung to her as if I was afraid she would disappear...or worse, turn back into voyeur Naomi, watching me get screwed by another woman.

"Want to talk about it?" She said softly, smoothing down my hair and squeezing me tightly.

"Not really..." I said weakly "But lets just say if you EVER suggest farming me out as sex bait for that fucking Portuguese action woman, I'll never speak to you again"

She released me ,and held me at arms length, a puzzled look on her face.

"Say what?" she said "Since when was I ever the caring, sharing type Ems? In any case, shouldn't _I_ be the one who's jealous and upset about my girlfriend having sex dreams about strangers?"

"It wasn't that sort of sex dream hun" I said shakily "More the sort of nightmare you have when you're a kid...scared of the boogie man... Trust me...the only one getting excited in that dream was _you_?"

Now that floored her, and although I didn't want to relive the last 15 minutes, I did, just so's she would know what I was so upset about.

"Well fuck me" she said after I finished "If thats not the wrong phrase completely to be using in the circumstances...Let me put your unconscious mind at rest babes. The sight of you being taken against your will by anyone, let alone this local army type bird you obviously don't even like much...isn't anything that would make me excited. I'd be more likely to blow her brains out with my Glock than sit there fingering myself"

I nodded. The rational part of my brain understood that it was just a silly mix of inner fears and concern about what sort of threat she posed to us all, but it had been so real, so vivid...it was still giving me lurid flashbacks. I shivered, despite the morning heat and Naomi hugged me again.

"Right" she said firmly "Only one way to obliterate that clusterfuck of a dream. Up you get...I think a shower...with me as your wash-cloth..should do the trick"

She flashed me one of those trademark cheeky grins and I put the dream to the back of my mind and followed the trail of her discarded clothes to the shower. Fifteen cleansing, and I mean that in all senses of the word, minutes, later and I was ready to face the world. A fast orgasm on Naomi's fingers worked wonders.

Two hours later, I had almost forgotten it. Naomi was out with Cook, supposedly getting some fuel, which we never seemed to have enough of, but also to try to soothe his ruffled feathers. Cock blocked and humiliated Cook is no good to us. She was probably the only one who could bring him round.

Harry was out with Katie, collecting fruit. Despite the time of year, there was still plenty of fruit and windfall around. We were going to make fruit jam and plenty of juice. Apart from anything, the apples would make cider, and we couldn't rely on finding many more booze bottles in abandoned shops forever. Jake and Anna had brought in a few sheep and pigs from neighbouring fields, and we were planning to be self sufficient in a few things at least by the New Year. Things were going pretty good. Which is, of course, when they started going pretty fucking awful.

I saw her first...walking determinedly across the open field behind the building we were staying in. This time she only had one companion, a bigger, brawnier guy, dressed like her in combat fatigues and both were armed with sawn off's.

I stood up from my kneeling position, picking some herbs, and faced her as she strode purposefully towards me.

"Morning" she said cheerfully, but I saw the glint in her eye again, and cursed myself for not wearing my side-arm. It was really hot, despite the lateness in the year, and I had just dressed in shorts and a tee. I saw the woman's eyes crawl over my body slowly. The man did the same, and I realised I was in a bit of danger here.

"On your own...pretty English girl" she drawled and then rattled off a burst of Portuguese to he companion, which I had no doubt wasn't a comment on the weather.

"No...actually there are a few of us about. What was it you wanted, Maria?"

"You remember my name...?" she smirked "Am I that memorable?"

"Actually, no" I said and watched her eyes narrow at the unconcealed insult

"My girlfriend and the others are on the way back...why don't you take a seat, and I'll get you a cold drink" I tried.

She reached out and held my elbow as I turned to go inside

"Don't be in so much of a hurry... minha querida" she said sharply. My breath hitched in my throat as I remembered that's what she had called me in the dream. I felt my chest tightening...oh fuck Effy, I thought, don't be off in one of your fugues today, I _need_ you now.

"Stay...and entertain us... I'm sure we could think of something to do together" she sneered, raking my body again with those possessive eyes. I felt my throat tighten even more as the big guy went to take my other elbow. Fuck... I am about to be _raped_ here, I thought frantically...

They both dropped their guns onto the dirt floor and began to walk me towards the house. I saw the doorway and my heart sank...no sign of Effy...these two would have their way with me, and be on their way before any of the others got back.

"I think that belongs to us" I heard from an upstairs window when we were within feet of the door "And I need you to be nice friendly neighbours and put her down. Let go of her arms and let her walk away"

It was Effy, staring coldly down from the first floor window above the door, Heckler and Koch trained on us standing there.

"Guns are not very welcoming" the big guy said, and tightened his grip on my arm.

"Bullets are worse" Effy said unemotionally, and shot him once in the head.

He dropped like a stone, and the woman Maria let go of me and dived for her shotgun. I knew Effy was fast and accurate with the pistols, but apparently, she was equally adept with the short barrelled rifle. She put three carefully spaced shots into the yard, one into the floor in front of the two shotguns, which made Maria stop in her tracks, and one either side of her feet. She turned to face us, murder in her eyes.

"Emily, darling" will you go inside and pick up the shotgun from the doorway...I think our little visitor needs some extra encouragement to go home" she said levelly.

She kept her rifle trained on Maria whilst I retrieved the long barrel shotgun from its place inside the door. When I turned round, the woman hadn't moved...just stared at me spitefully as I lifted it to her chest.

Inside three seconds, Effy was standing beside me...I have no idea how she moves so fast and so silently, but she does. The woman in front of us relaxed her tense posture when she could see we had her double covered. Whatever she did for a living before this whole apocalypse thing, she had certainly picked up some serious military attributes since.

"Now...Maria...isn't it?" Effy said coolly

The woman nodded, and her eyes continued to watch us in case of a slip. Like a cobra this one, I thought, ready to strike.

"Well, Maria. Lets just assess the situation, shall we? Obviously we _wanted_ to be good neighbours to our co survivors here. But twice now, you've threatened our group. And your recently departed friend there..." she nodded towards the dead guy who was bleeding copiously onto the flower bed "is now part of the eco system. Thanks for the compost, by the way"

Maria gritted her teeth at that. I thought for a minute that she might spring at Effy anyway, but I guess having seen her companion shot dead from 30 feet with one shot, she wasn't about to risk a 5 foot target being missed.

"So...we have a problem. Like Emily said...she has a girlfriend. But not just a girlfriend, a bona fide special forces soldier girlfriend, who probably has about 50 different ways to kill someone slowly and painfully in her locker. Not only that, but we have another two fully trained and armed soldiers in our group. Add to that the others, including me, who are...shall we say, pretty good shots...and I think you'll agree that you aren't just out-gunned, but outnumbered too. If I were you...and thats not something I would like to contemplate now...given our respective situations...I would be thinking of a way to get myself out of here alive and in one piece...not doing what you're doing...and considering ways you can get revenge on us, _etender_?"

Maria nodded, but the hatred in her eyes spoke louder than any words. This wasn't going to be forgotten. If we had been living near a potential rapist before, now we were definitely living next to a potential murderer.

"OK" Effy said, blowing out a breath theatrically "I can see we don't have a meeting of minds here. That's a pity. I would have liked to have sent you on your way with a warning. I guess we'll do this the hard way then"

She lifted the barrel of the Heckler and for the first time, I saw actual fear in the woman's eyes. She obviously didn't know Effy like we knew Effy. This girl didn't do bluff.

I heard two loud reports and Maria dropped to the floor, screaming and writhing. There were two small holes in her. One in her elbow, the other in her thigh. Blood began to spurt from both.

"Now...I think those two wounds...supposing you don't bleed to death before you get back to your friends...and I think we both know that your friends are hiding in that piece of woodland over there" she pointed about half a mile to the east "will heal, eventually. You might have a bit of a limp for the next few months...and that arm wound will be a bitch if you're trying to hold down a rape victim...but ho hum...So if I were you..Maria, I would thank whatever God you believe in, that I wasn't Naomi, Emilys girlfriend. She would have slit your wrists and ankles, tied you to a tree with your fanny on display and let the animals eat you slowly. Believe me, you would _not_ want her tracking you or your friends. Goodbye Maria"

And Effy turned and walked back inside.

I stared at Maria, who was now holding a handkerchief with her good arm to her thigh and wincing in pain.

She gave me a look which would have turned me to stone, and I left her there. Effy and I watched her stagger away eventually, hissing in pain, back the way she had come.

"Was that a good idea, Eff?" I said "letting her go?"

"Probably not Ems...and Naomi will have my guts for it, but there's been enough killing in this world. I had to shoot her friend, just to get her attention, but it will take her months to be properly mobile again. If she poses a threat again, we take no prisoners. We'll talk to Cookie and Naoms when they get back tonight. Its their call really. Being the experts and all.

Her sly grin told me she wasn't that impressed with experts.

"Oh, and Eff" I said, with a frown "What the fuck was all that " _That_ belongs to us bullshit?"

Her laughter echoed through the house at that...

The rest of the day went OK in comparison. But when they all got back...well, thats for next time.


	31. Chapter 31

Naomi

And then we entered what later became known as the second _'happy time'_

Initially, Cook and I were furious with Effy for not finishing Maria off when she'd attacked Emily. This was obviously a problem deferred, not solved. I was also mad at Emily for not being more truthful about how this Maria had hit on her so crudely when they first encountered her group. Normal jealousies were a bit redundant in the new world we found ourselves in, but I knew as well as Emily had, that Maria's blatant suggestiveness was bad news. There was a bit of a premium on drop dead gorgeous petite lesbians nowadays. Even in the fucked up world we'd left behind, I would have had to have been a bit protective of my lover in... company...but now, with no police, no rules and no etiquette left...well, let's just say a whole lot of folks are getting what they want or need by force if necessary.

But I calmed down a bit after Cook and I tracked the wounded Portuguese and her little band back the 12 miles to their camp. They were set up in an abandoned industrial unit the other side of the capital, Funchal. Cook and I spent almost 6 hours up a tall tree overlooking their place. It looked like there were 16 or 17 of them, fairly evenly split between men and women. None of them looked in fantastic physical shape, and apart from our would be female rapist and her two camo trousered sidekicks, there didn't look to be any serious military trained personnel either. The weapons we saw being handled were mainly of the civilian type. Shotguns, a few old revolvers and one hunting rifle with a scope, but we decided not to take any chances.

Whilst Maria was inside the cinder block building, no doubt getting treatment on her wounds, we left them a calling card. Climbing down from the tree just before darkness fell, I planted a small block of C4 in two places around their fence. I set the small watch timers for 15 minutes later, and in the meantime, threw a brick with a message wrapped around it into the compound. It was simple and to the point.

" _NOW WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. LEAVE US_ _ **ALONE**_ _. OTHERWISE THE FIREWORK DISPLAY WHICH IS ABOUT TO START ON YOUR PERIMETER IS JUST THE BEGINNING"_

As Cook and I tramped through the scrub, back to our place, we grinned at each other as the loud thumps of two small but effective detonations reached our ears. I think the message was heard loud and clear. At least I hoped so.

The next two months passed quickly, and it was obvious that spring was fast approaching. Our little expeditions got more and more far ranging. Cook came back into camp with 3 new companions a week after the shooting. All three female, but even with his constant search for moisture on his dick, only one fitted the bill for pleasure (please God I'm right about that!)... A tall, willowy fair haired woman in her early 30's called Nita. I never found out her full name, but then, like most things now, it didn't seem important any more. I wasn't Naomi Campbell any more, I was just Naomi. All of our surnames were redundant. Its strange how quickly you get used to the passing of all those social norms we grew up with. Anyway...Nita came in with Cook after he had scoured the coastline for supplies. She was a local dog breeder and the other two 'girls' Cook had liberated, were her two prize winning Rhodesian Ridge back bitches. Both were magnificent. Big, bold and dark sandy coloured, they were irresistible and affectionate. She wouldn't leave them behind when Cook had offered a refuge for her, so she brought them with her. It was one of those lucky breaks which we didn't realise would save our lives much later on. More on that soon.

Anyway, Cook had already worked his naughty boy charm on her by the time they got to us. Two nights traveling had bonded them, and by the look in her eyes when he introduced her to us all, he'd already 'sealed the deal' on the journey. I'd seen enough of Cooks conquests in the past to recognise the signs. The 'little Cookie Monster' had already been ...underwater cave diving...recently...

So, Nita fitted in nicely with our little band, with her practical streak, her friendly, open smile and easy charm. And of course, Bella and Dix, the two big hounds, were an instant hit, especially with Harry, who bonded with them in hours. Once the dogs had got over the shock of all these new faces, and Nita had carefully introduced them to us, one by one, they lapped up all the attention from their new 'pack'. After a week, I wondered why we'd never brought dogs into our group before. They were the best burglar alarms on the planet...and anyone trying to sneak in now, would be faced with two very large, very protective females.

So, life settled down for us on this little island paradise. We found, for the first time, that we had time to actually talk to each other, after the chores and mundane things were done. Ems and I spent a lot of time just sitting by the waterfront, gazing out over the still blue lake,.. Just chatting about stuff. She told me about her family, warts and all. I told her about my mum, my step dad Kieran and life in the army. We'd done our relationship a bit back to front...all frantic, urgent sex and blazing rows...before actually getting to know each other. It didn't seem to matter much. I loved her more, every hour we spent together, and the way she looked at me every day when we woke up, told me she felt the same.

Effy and Katie were more a proper couple than just occasional shag partners now. I'd caught them kissing...and other things...far more often than my eyes wanted or needed. Once upon a time, it was her slagging _me_ off about 'getting frisky' with Emily in public, but at least we kept our clothes on during the occasional grope outside. Finding your girlfriends sister with her head between her lovers legs in the chicken coop at 9am wasn't the best surprise I've ever had. Now, I know I've personally seen Effy...err getting _off_ in the past...but things are different now, right? I think Katie should have at least stopped... _doing it_ ,...quite so vigorously while I was in the vicinity..right? Bitch...

Emily thought it was very amusing when I told her, and then took the opportunity to shag me in the kitchen straight afterwards. I suppose it should have concerned me a little bit, her hearing about her sisters conversion to public cunnilingus and then demonstrating on me, but I wasn't complaining when she proved she was no slouch in that department either...Not that she'd ever needed lessons, the girl was a natural. Diva and Cosmopolitan take some of the credit, I suppose...

Cook and Nita paired off, Jake was currently ironing out the kinks in Anna's horizontal frustrations, and our little junior sex contestants Harry and Sergio, were making up for lost time. Just as well we had divided up the building into separate individual living areas. Five adjoining bedrooms _might_ have been a bit much, considering the amount of rampant gay and straight shagging going on every night...

But life was good. Supplies were still plentiful, fruit and veggies abundant, even this time of year, and we carried on plundering the surrounding area for extras like batteries, flour for the homemade bread and medical supplies. Some evenings, sitting under the awning, with a few bottles of Madeira wine, fresh baked bread and olive oil and the old battery powered CD player burbling in the background, it almost felt like being home...except of course, home was gone...forever.

Last night was a perfect example. We had freshly caught lake fish...don't ask me what they were called... grilled over a charcoal fire, with roasted red and yellow peppers, rough local bread and olive oil. A few bottles of wine and then someone had the bright idea to break out the musical instruments. I knew Effy played keyboard a bit in the old days, and Cook had rescued a battery powered half sized Yamaha unit from a music shop in Funchal. But once Emily saw it, she begged him to go back on the next trip and boost her a decent acoustic guitar. I didn't even know she played. Like I said, we'd sort of done our relationship backwards. I was constantly finding out new and adorable stuff about her. It was nice...if sometimes surprising...like then.

So, this night, Effy plonks the keyboard on the wood trestle, and teases out the opening arpeggio notes of a song which has always intrigued and haunted me in turn. I knew that she knew how I felt about it...Because as soon as my eyes met hers, she winked broadly. This song was one of my guilty secrets, and even as she repeated the repetitive first three bars, I felt my eyes start to sting with melancholy tears.

But it was when Emily came back from inside with her 3/4 Taylor acoustic and settled down next to her, that I knew this was a fucking set up. They smiled at each other and started to play the opening bars again, this time in a soft duet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened.

" _I heard that you...settled down.,.that you found a girl...and you're married now..._ "

I raised my hand to my mouth and stifled a tiny sob. Emily's husky, but pitch perfect voice rolled effortlessly over the chords. Jesus, I never knew she could sing...but not just sing...sing like _THIS_...Her eyes closed as she followed Effys slow chord progressions with gentle fingered fills. The whole group was silent by then. Just listening.

" _Never mind, I'll find someone like you...I wish nothing but the best for you two..."_

The night sky above us was empty and black... Just our little group of desperate vagabonds sitting quietly under hissing yellow storm lamps, listening to an exquisitely pretty brunette and her equally lovely friend play a gentle, haunting Adele song about lost love and broken hearts.

I knew the words as if they were engraved on my soul. Everyone around me had lost someone...we'd all lost people we loved recently. Family, friend's, lovers...and as I gazed around, my eyes blurred with hot tears, I could see the same emotions on every face. Wonder, sadness and at the end...as Emily's beautiful voice rose to finish the last line...deep, deep loss. Not a dry eye in the house.

When they'd finished, I got up, walked around the table and hugged Effy briefly, before wrapping my arms tightly round my love. As I did, I saw the others do the same to their own significant others We smiled at each other, faces wet with tears. Everyone had this bond. We'd all been cruelly bereaved, but we had each other now...our family.

Effy looked up into the bible black sky, dotted with intense bright pinpricks and whispered sadly " _Thanks, Adele.. I hope we did you proud, sweetie"_

I could hear gentle sobs as lover squeezed lover. Even Cooks eyes had a shine that could only have come from tears. We didn't need to say any more. The perfect end to a perfect evening...

Ems and I didn't make love that night. We both carried the same sadness in our hearts, thinking about those who hadn't made it this far. Emily and Katie had lost their parents, their little brother and all their friends. I'd lost my mum and Kieran and all the guys I'd laughed and cried and fought side by side with for the past three years. Yes we were alive and in love, but with all the dramas that had affected us this past few months, we needed this little bit of introspection. Being in danger of losing your life any minute concentrates the mind wonderfully, but we needed to grieve, and Ems and Effys little performance had given us the chance to do it.

Next morning, we all felt a little embarrassed at the group weep we had shared, but we soon got back to crude jokes and the daily grind. Well, that wasn't strictly true. Getting up early was a bit of a ritual for me anyway...army routines being what they were. So I normally went out into the yard to collect some eggs from the hens that Harry had liberated from a farm a mile or so away. We had quite a menagerie now. Twenty chickens, and one, very happy, but exhausted looking cockerel (Who was christened Cook immediately, of course), three sows, who had already got 10 piglets when we found them, a few rangy looking sheep, which Anna had assured us were pregnant with spring lambs, although there was no sign of any births yet, and a bloody horse called,..inevitably... _Dobbin_ , by Harry.

Feeding them was the first priority, but we figured that they would repay the kindness in spades, if we could only keep them alive until summer. The horse and sheep grazed in the meadow by the lake, the pigs ate anything we didn't, and the chickens were kept fat and happy with the sacks of corn already in the shed where we found them.

I found Harry and Sergio snogging sloppily behind the chicken coop. They grinned at me without embarrassment as I came round the building.

"Jesus...do you guys ever stop?" I said good naturedly "There's a war on, you know?"

My lame attempt at humour was met with blank looks, so I guess it was only me who was forced as a child to watch endless reruns of Dads Army and Ello Ello...

"You won't find any... edible... eggs in there Harry?" I smirked and saw her guiltily snatch her hand out of Sergio's cargo pants " But I _do_ admire your persistence"

They both mumbled something indistinct at the same time, and went out with a basket of fresh eggs for the communal breakfast. It was something we had all agreed on at the beginning of our time on Madeira. We might spend our days apart, doing whatever our small individual skills would allow us to contribute, but breakfast and dinners were spent around the big, rough sawn trestle table together. We started and ended the day as a family.

About 10 am...which by the way we all knew was accurate, because another of Cook and Effys expeditions to the capital produced a box of very very expensive watches. I don't think Tag Heur had this sort of mission in mind for their top of the range chronometers, but after he got back, we were all wearing a shiny new, synchronized timepiece. I'm sure Lewis Hamilton would have been proud if he'd known that his signature F1 watch was on everyone's wrist nowadays... Anyway, I digress... At 10, Emily and I went over to the plane on the small dinghy we had found a week after we got there. We had kept it in working order...well, I say we...me and Jake took care of the regular maintenance...the others provided the assistance, as in passing screwdrivers and sockets as well as humping oil cans and batteries. Once a week me or Cook ran the Goose the length of the lake, just to make sure she was still airworthy and watertight.

We climbed up the side ladder into the aircraft and I began to hand up the stores we had brought over. We never knew if we would be needing a fast getaway, so it was important that we kept up the routine. Also most of the heavier weapons Cook had bought with him originally were still stowed here, in big green army boxes. I knew we might need those too in the future, so they got a quick disassemble and grease, just for luck.

"Do you think we'll always be here Naoms?" Emily said, as she watched me reassemble the big Barrett 50 cal tripod rifle " I mean, life's so good now...here...can it stay like it?"

"I hope so babes" I said, not meeting her eyes. I did hope so...but I had a sneaking feeling that this was just a lull in our battle to survive. A lovely, peaceful lull, but I had no doubt Madam Fate had some more surprises in store.

"Let's just enjoy this time. I'm happy...The woman I love is with me...and everyone seems to be loved up around us too. I don't know whether this is our future...in Madeira...but I do know it was a good idea to come here. The weathers kind, the food is plentiful, and we can definitely carve out a proper future here, if we're left alone. We don't know what's happening in the rest of the world...but we can't really do much about it, even if we did. Let's just be together and hope for the best?"

She smiled that perfect Emily Fitch smile and I fell in love with her all over again. I really didn't have any proper memories of a world 'pre Emily'...it all seemed shrouded in mist and uncertainty. She was my love and my life...I never wanted to find out what life would be without her.

"Naoms?" She said huskily...

I looked up from my work and saw how big her pupils had got and smirked. I knew that look.

"Want to test the merchandise again, little Fitch?" I said slowly

"You know it" she growled and slid over to me on the bench seat. "We may not be a mile high...but I can still provide...excellent...in...flight...service..."

The fact that she was ridding me of an item of clothing at every word made us both breathless. I stood there naked as she stripped off her own singlet and shorts. My mouth watered all over again as I looked at her. Her skin was a beautiful golden brown and I wanted nothing more than to taste her again...all over preferably. We fell down on the floor together hungrily, her mouth on my neck instantly, finding the spot she knew drove me wild. Within seconds we were tangled and naked on the pile of discarded clothing. Once again, the silent aircraft echoed to the sound of first Emily, then me, coming loudly, calling the others name.

Afterward, we laid there, on the warm floor, gazing at each other with eyes that saw nothing else but love in our eyes. I knew that if the world ended for us that moment, it would somehow not matter. Finding my Emily in this sea of madness and horror had given me something that even death could not take away. And I could see the same thing in her beautiful brown eyes. We smiled at each other and kissed. This time not frantically, not hungrily...but lovingly, gently...for now at least... it was enough.

An hour later, we had finished looking after the Goose, and we sat in the dinghy, dangling a rod and line over the side. I had no idea what the fish in this couple of acres of water were called, but we had been eating them for weeks. Obviously no one had fished for them for a while, because they were ridiculously easy to catch.., which was just as well. None of us were what you would call proper fishermen. A stolen rod and reel, some heavy duty fishing line and a bread baited hook seemed to do the trick. In an hour, Ems and I had acquired 5 big silver fish, which I filleted there and then, whilst Emily looked away from the blood and guts spilling into the clear blue water. I washed the fish out with clean water and strung them onto a thick piece of twine. Job done. We had both not bothered to put anything other than cotton shorts back on while we were alone, topless was pretty de rigeur when we were alone, but now the sun was getting higher in the sky, we covered up with loose tee shirts and this time she rowed me back to the shoreline.

When we got back on shore, I gave Anna the fish and she started preparing them for lunch straight away. Although we didn't have any proper refrigeration, we did have a cold store of sorts, in the cellar and she took them down there until later.

Just then, Katie popped up from behind the small store cupboard next to the main house.

"Ems?" She said " Can I borrow you for a bit?"

Emily looked at me, and I shrugged... occasionally, the two went off to do twin things, so I was used to it. Didn't mean I couldn't do a bit of Katie bating though, so I smirked at her.

"If its that twin thing you keep dreaming about Katie, I told you...Emily's enough woman for me..you'll have to settle for Eff's charms, I'm afraid...maybe next year?"

Her horrified look was almost worth the disgusted one Emily flashed me. Mention twincest to Ems and you could see her breakfast revolting.

" **Not** funny" they said in unison, which of course made me laugh even harder. Talking together was one of those cute twin things which amused everyone but them, I suppose.

Katie shot me a killer look and spat

"You'll never find out what this body can do Campbell...you'll have to carry on using your imagination when you shag my sister"

My mouth fell open at that, but after a splutter from me, and a " _KATIE_!" From her horrified twin, I had to top it...didn't I?

"No need hun" I drawled " Effy and I share _all_ our case notes..."

This time, Emily shot me a hard, quizzical look, which said quite clearly that that was definitely _enough_ twin sex teasing.

"OK, OK, I said defensively, holding my hands up in surrender. Individually they were impressive, combined, I knew better than to take them on.

"Joke?...Effy isn't very forthcoming about your talents Katie...I'll just have to settle for the prettier and more passionate twin. Shouldn't be a hardship"

Both of the pairs of brown eyes opposite regarded me humourlessly, before they walked away arm in arm. I felt smugly pleased that I'd comprehensively nailed my Ems this morning. I had a feeling Fitch would be off the menu for supper...me and my big mouth.

XXX

Emily

Two days after Katie and I had disappeared to conspire, everything was ready for Naomi's surprise. Katie was still spitting not entirely serious venom about the twincest jibes Naomi threw at us occasionally, but she put it aside, "Just for you, Emsy... _not_ for that big muff munching dyke..." Which was kinda funny really, considering she was dyking it up with Eff every night and twice on Sundays. But hey ho...my sister may have been a late convert to the LGBT community, but she was making up for lost time in a big way now.

It was March...and I knew from Cook that this weekend was Naomi's birthday. She didn't like a fuss made...I already knew that, but I wanted to do something special...just for us. So Katie enlisted Cook and Jake's help...and whenever Naomi was away from the compound, we worked on our idea.

Finally, the day arrived, and I spent the morning ferrying supplies out to where the plane was moored. I hoped she wouldn't take it into her head to go out there and tinker with the engines... It wasn't the sort of surprise you could hide...close up. But she didn't, and after we had all eaten our early supper, I took her aside and whispered "Happy Birthday" in her ear.

"Don't make a big thing about it babe" she hissed back, looking round to see if anyone else had heard me "Its just another day, Ems"

"Not quite" I grinned and then turned her so she was facing the lake. Cook had slipped away just before we finished dinner, and as Naomi stared, puzzled, over the dark water, a small glow began to grow out there. Soon it was bigger, and flickering.

"Wh..what?" She spluttered..""You haven't set light to the fucking Goose, have you babe?"

"Not quite" I smiled up at her, and pulled her towards the shore, where a little two man dinghy was moored, oars already out and ready.

She got in with me wordlessly, still looking towards the flickering yellow glow in the distance, but I didn't say anything until we were slipping through the dark water quietly. About 50 metres offshore, the other dinghy came into view, with a grinning Cook at the oars, sculling quickly past us.

"Have fun, ladies" he roared "Don't drown her when you shag her Emily...we might need her later...Happy Birthday Naomi!"

And with that, we arrived at the 'surprise'

Jake and Cook had built an 8 foot square raft, moored about 100 metres from the shore. It was made of thick poles and oil drums, criss crossed with sturdy flooring planks from the cabin down the road from our camp. On top of this, they had managed to ferry several thick sheepskin fleeces out, and they covered most of the flat surface. In one corner was an ice bucket, with a bottle of the finest Crystal champagne poking out. And right round three edges of the raft were dozens of big church candles, in metal holders, flickering in the velvety black of the night. It looked magical.

I watched Naomi's face. She was crying quietly, eyes gleaming in the soft glow from the candles.

"Oh Em..." She said in a low voice... "This is perfect...so...perfect...thank you baby"

I felt tears prick my own eyes as she stared at the raft...I wanted to do something simple but very personal for her...and I think it had worked.

We tied up the little dinghy and climbed carefully onto the raft. The champagne was icy cold, so I guess Cook had just taken it out of the water. I poured us a glass each, and we stared at each other wordlessly over the rims of our champagne flutes for a long minute.

"I love you so much, Naomi" I said, my voice breaking "I just wanted you to know that, and, well...happy birthday baby...and here's to our future...we're Naomi and Emily...and we love each other, nothing else matters...right?"

We clinked glasses and drank, still with eyes locked together. I've never felt like this about anyone in the past, and I knew at that moment I never would again. She was it for me. I was ruined for anyone else.

Half an hour later, with the candles burning down, and the champagne gone, I snuggled into her arms as she spooned me from behind. We were sitting, just looking out at the faint glow of the camp on shore. I turned my head and captured her lips with mine before speaking.

"And now part two of your present Naoms"

She raised her eyebrows in that unmistakeable Campbell 'go ahead and disappoint me' expression.

"How could you top this honey?" she smiled "Best birthday party...ever"

"Like this" I said and, pulling away from her encircling arms, I made my way around the raft on my hands and knees and blew out the candles one by one..just leaving just one small tea light on. Then I stood up, careful not to rock the raft too much.

And then I started a slow strip tease. I took off my shirt, button by button slowly popping as I opened it. Then I pulled down the zip of my cargo pants, until they laid at my feet. Underneath I was wearing a simple, but exquisite black lace Basque, another one of Effys expedition treasures...nothing else, no knickers, no stockings just the Basque and me...

Her eyes got very very wide in the darkness, and I saw her bite her lip adorably.

"I want you to take me...here... under the stars baby" I breathed huskily..."Take off your clothes Naomi...you're way overdressed for what I want to do to you"

She stripped much quicker than I had, and my mouth went dry all over again at how good she looked naked. Like all of us, she had gained a healthy tan more or less all over, so her skin glowed silkily in the half light. I wanted her as much as I ever had. No matter how many times I saw her like this, I was immediately wet for her.

"Lie back gorgeous" I sighed "I need to do something for you first...you know...that thing you like me to do?"

"Oh Jesus Christ on a bike Ems...yes fucking please" She groaned and leaned back on her elbows.

I straddled her waist until I was almost touching her skin, but not quite, my knees either side of her body. I slid one hand between my legs and started to circle my already excited clit slowly. My other hand slid up and kneaded my breasts in turn, thumbing my nipples and squeezing gently.

"When I see you naked...like that..." I began..."I think about all the times we've been apart...even for one day...sometimes even an hour...I always end up doing _this_ when I think about you. You don't know this, but I've touched myself night after night, just imagining what your naked skin would feel like on mine... what your nipples would taste like...how wet you would be when I slipped my fingers inside you... How sweet you would taste when I sucked on your clit...how hard you would pull my hair when I went down on you...night after night, on my back...naked...legs open...just like this...fingering myself...knowing how hard I was going to come over you..."

We were both panting by the time I paused for breath...her fingers were caressing my hips and thighs and her eyes were fixed on my busy fingers. My excitement was obvious, not just visually...I don't ever remember being this wet. Finally, with a primal growl, she lurched forwards and pulled me over her mouth. In seconds I was howling my release to the indifferent sky. She licked me through that orgasm, and well on the way to my second. But I had other ideas.

With legs shaky from the aftershocks which were still making me tremble, I moved back from her lips and tongue, pausing only to kiss her hungrily, tasting myself on her lips. I pushed her legs open and wasted no time on any more foreplay...she didn't need it, and I couldn't stand another second without tasting her.

"I'm gonna make you come so fucking hard" I growled and her head went back in surrender as I instantly covered her with my mouth...

Ten minutes later, we laid side by side on the thick sheepskin rugs, exhausted and silent. We didn't need words, but Naomi groggily turned to me before we drifted off, whispering in my ear.

"Best birthday ever Emily...thank you honey...err...any chance of breakfast in bed tomorrow?"

I nudged her hard in the ribs, but laughed with her.

"Don't push your luck Campbell...the only eating you will be doing in the morning is here..." and I pushed her hand between my legs... She giggled again and then growled sleepily.

"Best birthday ever..." She repeated before I heard her breathing slow and even out...someone had had a long , eventful day...

It must have been a couple of hours later..at least, the tea light had burned out, and there was a faint pre dawn pink glow from the sky over the mountains to the east. I don't know what woke me...but I opened first one, then the other eye. We were spooned together as always...her the big spoon behind me.. our discarded clothes pulled over us against the possibility of a chill at dawn. I could hear something odd...something off?

We'd got so used to the insects and the dawn chorus, we 'd tuned them out...so it wasn't that. I lifted my head slightly and looked towards the compound. There it was again...it sounded like party poppers going off.

I could feel Naomi behind me begin to stir as the sound reached her. _Pop pop...pop,pop,pop_. Then a scream...followed by another...then the darkness over there was broken by a single yellow flash. In a split second, Naomi was upright behind me, and I could hear the sound of her throwing on her discarded shorts and tee.

"What's happening...?" I said, still staring open mouthed at our camp, which was now illuminated with multiple flashes and what looked like small fireworks.

"We're under attack" Naomi said grimly..." **Fucking** Maria...I knew we should have killed that cunt out of hand. Up you get Ems...take the dinghy...row it ...over...there"

She pointed to a small inlet a few hundred metres from our jetty.

"When you get there, keep your head down and wait...I'm going to swim in now..." And she took the wicked looking survival knife she'd always carried, out of its sheath and gripped it in her teeth.

"But Naoms?" I started to say, feeling useless as always in the face of her change into soldier Sam...

"No time babe" she hissed " the bad guys are here...time to even up the odds a bit"

And with that she dived into the water smoothly, and disappeared into the distance.

I jumped up after she'd gone and grabbed my clothes. The shots had slowed to a trickle now, but I had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. What I did know was that my friends were under attack...and some of them might be hurt. I scrambled into the dinghy and started to row quickly ashore.

XXX

Naomi

I climbed out of the water and wiped my face dry. My hair hung in wet cords over my shoulders. It was chilly at this time of the morning, and my feet clenched in protest at the damp earth under them. I hadn't taken the time to put my trainers on, so I was barefoot. I could see, in the faint glow from the early dawn sky that there were bullet holes in the front of our building. There wasn't enough light to see who it was that was running about in front of it, but I could hear Cooks 7.62mm going off inside. I knew it was his by the short controlled bursts. Never one to waste a shot, our Cookie boy.

Suddenly, I saw two black figures run from the building, holding someone between them. Someone who was struggling and had a hood over their head. I straightened up and took my knife in my right hand, moving silently and directly towards them. They wouldn't be looking for contact from the lake direction, so I hoped I had the element of surprise.

But just as I tensed to grab the first one, a heavy fist hit me from the side and as I staggered to the right, a boot followed it into my ribs. It hurt like fuck, but I rolled out of the way of his next aimed kick. I hadn't seen the guy squatting down by the woodshed, and as I jumped up and faced him, I realised I had missed my chance to save whoever they had trussed up. The stupid cunt jumped straight onto my knife and the surprised oomph he let out as the 8 inches of surgical steel penetrated his gut was only a slight consolation. I kicked him off the blade and went looking for more attackers. I really needed a gun, but the guy who'd jumped me only had a metal pipe on him. I suppose I should have been grateful he didn't use that on me instead of his fist.

In ran into the building and found Cook, in his shorts, holding the stairs against any more intruders. His combat stance was rigid, and I have to thank his training for the fact that he didn't put a round in to me when I burst in.

"Naoms!" He shouted " Thank fuck...we've got wounded friendlies and dead bad guys upstairs. I've slotted two, and I know Jake has hit a couple, but we've taken casualties"

My heart thumped in my chest at that news. Fuck, we didn't need to lose anyone now ,just when things were going great.

"Who's down Cook?" I shouted, staring at him.

"Effy took a rifle butt to the face, but she's OK...but I think Harry and Sergio are KIA..." He said grimly.

"Fuck!" I screamed "Have they gone...or are we still in contact?"

He shook his head and took a deep breath before carrying on.

"It gets worse babe...and I don't mean losing the little guys isn't a total clusterfuck...but they've got one of ours..."

"Who?" I said, trying to see upstairs, into the clouds of cordite smoke still swirling around the landing. I remembered the hooded figure and my guts churned. If they had one of ours, this was even worse than a killing raid. Now they had hostages.

He stared at me again...and I lost the plot a bit.

" **Cook**! We need to know...who the _fuck_ have they taken?"

"Tell us " came from behind me, in a croaky, but husky tone I recognized immediately. I didn't need to turn round to see that Emily had disobeyed my order to stay put in the boat...

"Its Katie..." Cook said quietly "They've got Katie with them"

"But it wasn't Katie they wanted was it..." Emily choked behind me "They were after me...weren't they Cook?"

He nodded sadly and looked away from both our eyes.

"I make you right... little Fitch" he said " I think our friend Maria has just taken something she'll soon find out isn't what she came for...Katie's in big fucking trouble kids"


	32. Chapter 32

Naomi

Standing here, with the brutal smell of ammunition and blood in the air, its like I've never been away from the Army. Thirty minutes ago, I was curled up naked in the arms of my lover, having just been given the best birthday present on earth...her body. And now, I'm standing in the wreckage of our home, just about to find out how horrible it has all become.

Cook led me upstairs, away from Emily, who was crying noisily into Anna's arms. I know I should have been the one comforting her, but I also knew, with my professional head on, that time was really of the essence. They'd obviously taken Katie by mistake, because otherwise any other hostage would have done. No, they were after Ems. This fucking Maria was looking to exact some revenge on the group. As well as have Emily's body to play with until she tired of her.

The look on Emilys face when she realised that her twin was paying the price for her good looks was heart breaking. I held her briefly as she sobbed, but Cook raised his eyebrow as I looked over her shoulder at him, and I knew we had to get busy living, or Katie would soon be getting busy dying. The goons who had snatched Katie had made a bad mistake, taking the wrong twin, one I'm sure they would be paying for soon one way or another, but we had a very small window of opportunity to strike back in, and it was closing fast.

If Maria killed Katie out of hand, because she found out she had the 'wrong' twin, there was no point rushing after them, but I didn't think that would happen. From what Cook told me on the short debrief while we were going upstairs, Katie was snatched the bed she shared with Effy by two men, who immediately hooded and cuffed her. Effy had caught a rifle butt in the face when she tried to stop them, and was still unconscious upstairs. Poor Harry and Sergio just happened to be in the wrong bedroom, when the snatch squad first came in. Whoever the kidnappers were, they had panicked, and shot the two of them as they laid in bed when they realised they weren't Emily. I looked at the two small bodies, lying on their backs, eyes blank and unseeing. I'd seen death too many times to be shocked. But these were our friends, our responsibility. Two teenage kids, in love and just starting out. Murdered because the idiots who raided us got the wrong room. Bastards.

Jake was with his sister now, holding her cold hand and weeping uncontrollably. I couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. Big brothers look after their little sisters, and he had just lost her to some random gunman, for absolutely nothing. But we needed him functioning. Like now...

Jake, together with me and Cook were our best chance of getting Katie back alive, and dealing, lethally, with the threat of the Funchal group once and for all. There would be no negotiations on either side now. Four raiders were dead, two of our group too. We had lost one hostage and had one badly wounded woman. It was time to get creative. No pow wows and bargains. ' _Time to die_ ' as that robot in the Blade Runner film said.

I pushed away my anger and grief. Time enough for that later. Cook, Jake and I needed to get moving. If we let the attackers get back to their compound, it would get much harder to deal with. Once on their ground, and pre warned, we were the weaker side.

Cook told me that they had apparently doped our guard dogs with meat laced with sleeping pills, so this raid was well planned and executed. They'd found the flaw in our canine defence line. Another fuck up. They were alive, but out of action.

Eventually, I whispered urgently into Jakes ear, and after a few seconds, while he looked at me with uncomprehending eyes, he snapped into focus. One of the reasons Jake was turning into a proper fighter was because he could put emotion aside. It was something he would have to do in spades tonight.

Five minutes later we were locked and loaded. I had my combats on again, something I had deliberately avoided wearing since we got here. I was hoping we could stop being soldiers for a while...but look where _that_ had got us? Cook and Jake were similarly dressed. We made sure Effy was being taken care of...the whole side of her face was purpling and swollen, and I gritted my teeth at the state of her. Someone was going to die slowly and in agony tonight, and it wasn't going to be me. I kissed Emily tenderly when we got down stairs and she smiled weakly up at me through her tears.

"Bring her back to me Naoms" she croaked "Please?"

"You know it" I said grimly "We don't leave _anyone_ out there alone, let alone Katiekins. Its not what we do, right?"

But I knew when I said it that there was only even money on me bringing Katie back still breathing. More likely another corpse to add to the pile.

She nodded and clung to me desperately for another long moment, before letting go of my jacket.

"And _you_ come back safe too" she said fiercely "I haven't finished with you Campbell... _right_?" Her voice broke on the last word.

I smiled at her and nodded to Anna and Nita...they would have to be our substitute defenders until we got back. We needed all the fire-power we had, and with Effy unconscious, our sharpest shooter was down already. It was the worst sort sort of luck, but then, when did Lady Luck shine on us much?

We ran outside and across to the small storage shed beside the house. Jake and Cook had requisitioned two of those little mini dirt bikes you used to see running F1 drivers about during Grands Prix practice...like little two wheeled taxis. I had no idea why they had bothered and where they had got them from, until now. But then Cook still had that sharp special forces brain ticking away even when things had looked rosy and safe. I cursed myself for getting soft. Me and Ems had been on such a long, extended honeymoon lately, I had forgotten the basics. _Expect the worst and plan for it_. Its always served me well before, and now we were paying for my stupidity...well, at least four of us were. Two dead, one captured and one in a coma. Quite a nights work for Maria and her murderous sidekicks... Time the balance was restored. Time to die...

" _Naomi_?" Cook said harshly "On your game, huh?"

I nodded quickly. No time for introspection now.

I shouldered the three semi automatic rifles, including Cooks M4 Carbine and strapped a bulky kit bag to the tiny rear seat. We had spare ammo, 5 blocks of C4, some flash bangs and fragmentation grenades. We also had a 203 attachment to the M4 rifle which turned it into a grenade launcher. I knew the Funchal group didn't know how much fire-power we actually had, but I'm with the Yanks when it comes to deploying weapons...use fucking shock and awe. It frightens the shit out of anyone on the other end, and allows you to be more precise at killing while they're ducking.

We all had our Glocks and hunting knives, as well as a few 'surprises' which I had made up months ago 'just in case'.

The bikes gunned into life at the first kick, and I followed Cook and Jake, who were on the first bike. We were heading for a dried up river bed about a mile from us. Unlike the hostage takers, who would almost certainly reverse the route they had taken to attack us, we had the advantage of knowing the terrain around the camp. Again, I kicked myself mentally for losing my edge. Cook and Jake had scouted out this route weeks ago, when Maria and her band had first hit our radar. We needed a competitive advantage, and this was it. The dried up and rocky riverbed led across the wide plain and circled around to the wooded area 4 miles away, which signified our visible boundary. The attackers would be heading fast for that, because it gave them cover, and with daylight soon approaching, would let them see us coming before we saw them. Or so they thought.

The little 100cc engines raced as we scrambled, feet outstretched for balance, along the boulder strewn bottom. The river bed was gouged out of a deep channel, which also provided some shelter, and more importantly, masked the noise of us approaching. I guessed the Funchal thugs had about 10 minutes on us...but leading a reluctant, hooded Katie along, they would be lucky to do 2 miles before we were in front of them. And so it proved.

We coasted the bikes the last 500 yards down hill from the end of the rocky bed. The river still had a trickle of water at its source, up on a small hill, but after we got to it, we needed to drop down to where the trees started. The engines ticked quietly as they cooled, and we had time to set up in wait. Cook said there had been at least 8 of them, but they'd left 4 back at the compound, dead. So if Katie was being manhandled by two of them, it left Maria (and I hoped for her to be there more than anything I had ever wished for in my life...even an Emily orgasm face had second place to this) and one other. It didn't matter. They would think, as most people would, that the compound by the lake would be like an overturned termite mound at the moment, all shocked occupants running round like headless chickens...and I know thats a crazily mixed metaphor, but you know what I mean...

But we'd got in front, and suddenly the odds had shifted.

I heard Katie first, and if there was ever a time when I really wanted to hear Katiekins in full bitch mode, this was it.

"Get your fucking hands off my tits you _cunt_ " She roared...followed by the sound of a meaty slap, and her yelled protest. I gritted my teeth and waited. Keep on bitching Katie, I whispered to myself, you're the best echo locator left in the world. A few slaps would be worth it in the end.

"Look...I can't walk properly in this fucking hood...take it _off_ and I'll walk twice as fast, dickhead" she shouted, and the second slap and groan told me that the group were almost here.

Cook was in a tree, 8 feet up, just to the left of me...he had his green night sight on his head band, and would be the first to spot them as they got close. Jake was to the right of me, prone on the ground under a bush with his HK carbine and laser dot sight ready. He wouldn't switch it on until Cook had dropped at least two of them. Then it would get really interesting for a while...like all fire fights.

I saw them walking quickly towards us. Maria in front, still limping slightly, which Effy would be happy to hear about, and the two Katie guards behind, with our little Fitch held by the armpits between them. Her feet were barely touching the ground, but she was struggling, bless her, so the mixed English and Portuguese curses her captors were venting made perfect audio camouflage for us to use.

I had unslung my main weapon, because at this range, I wanted to be precise. My Glock was fine as a man stopper at 10 yards, any further and the long arms were better.

I heard Maria chuckle deep in her throat as Katie groaned from another rough squeeze on her tits from the ape on her left.

"Careful with the merchandise boys"...she said "I get first go tonight...then you can have some fun with her afterwards. She should last a week or so, if we're _gentle_ "

The way she said gentle made my skin crawl...if this really had been Emily in that hood, I know just how gentle they would have been with her. Her battered and violated body would have been thrown down a ravine after they had fucked her unconscious for days. It was slim consolation to know they had the wrong girl...but we still had to get Katie free.

Just then I heard the almost silent whirr as Cooks night sights refocussed, and Maria instantly went into a crouch. Her 'associates' may not have had any military training, but she certainly had. She went to turn towards the others, probably to warn them to drop to the floor, but I heard two sharp reports first. Both Katies guards dropped like stones, shot between the eyes. Cook had always been top on the range when we were training, and he hadn't lost any of that cold skill.

Immediately, I saw Maria stand up and make a rush for Katie...the guy at the rear was just standing there, handgun pointing everywhere but at us, so I waited for Jake to take him out. A small red dot appeared on his chest, which he looked at stupidly for the nano second it took for the MP5 to put a round in that spot. The red dot moved away and a smoking black hole replaced it. His look of utter surprise was replaced by an expression only worn by dead people. Total lack of interest.

I stepped forward as Maria tried to grab the flailing Katie...it was her last, and fatal mistake. I dropped into the classic combat crouch and put a round through her knee. I had done this before, with that old guy on Ushant. It was still a show stopper. The high pitched scream she let out was louder than all the shots that had preceded it. She crumpled to the floor, the 9mm semi automatic pistol in her hand spilling out of her hand, onto the scrubby grass.

I moved over to her as Jake and Cook scrambled over to us. The handgun was picked up by me and we regarded the soon to be ex Maria in front of us. Her hands were on her knee, and she stared at us with undisguised hatred.

"Fucking do it, then... _pussies_ " she said "What are you waiting for?"

I crouched down beside her and smiled thinly.

"No rush, sweetheart" I said "We've got all night...unfortunately, so have you"

Her eyes blazed at the implied threat.

"You won't do that...you're nice...civilised people, aren't you?" she hissed.

Just then a loud and very pissed off Katie Fitch made her presence known in the way only she could.

"Am I gonna stand here all night, like a fucking oven ready turkey...I mean...hello? _Hostage_?"

I grinned at Cook and he replaced me by the still writhing Maria.

"Shhh, princess" he said in that mocking way he had when he was being murderous "Plenty of time for struggling...later..."

I grabbed Katie and quickly pulled the black hood off her head. Her hair was a mess and I couldn't stop the grin that spread over my face at her less than typical tousled appearance.

"Is this the famous ' _London Look_ '?" I smirked...paraphrasing the stupid Rimmel ads from the old world. Katie was still cuffed behind her back, something I was grateful for when she looked at me with a face that could sink ships.

"Fuck _OFF_ Campbell" she shouted "Get these fucking things off me...or I'll..."

"You'll what Katie " I smiled "Coz from where I'm standing...you can't do much of anything at all at the moment. Is _that_ any way to talk to your brave rescuers? Still, from what Effy tells me...you don't need hands...your tongue is _quite_ enough"

If looks could kill, I would be amongst the casualties tonight, but luckily Jake took pity on her and pulled her away, searching the captors for the cuff keys, which he found in one of the goons pockets who had been holding her upright.

A minute late and Katie was free. She rubbed her wrists, wincing, and pushed her hair back into something resembling order before walking over to us with eyes like fire. I actually lifted my arms in mock surrender...I thought she was about to clock me...but instead she walked up to the prone Maria and proceeded to kick her several times as she laid there. We let her have her fun...

"Fucking _BITCH_ " she screamed as another blow landed on Maria's body "Wrong fucking twin...cunt" she continued " _THIS_ Fitch fucking **bites** "

Cook and I grinned at each other as she carried on kicking the groaning woman. Maria was dead meat anyway...but after a few more well aimed kicks, we pulled Katie off. She might have hurt herself, kicking something hard, like her skull.

I looked at Jake and nodded. His sister had died. It was up to him to decide how Maria shuffled off this mortal coil now. I walked over to him as Cook pulled Katie off Maria, walking her away, and leaned in towards him, whispering in his ear.

"Your call mate" I said softly "You decide. Quick or slow?"

"Oh, fucking slow Naomi" he said steadily and I shivered at his tone. The carefree and open faced boy we had teamed up with in Cornwall was gone. In his place was a cold eyed killer...just like me and Cook. It didn't make me feel very good. But then, his little sister had died less than an hour before. He had the right.

"Just take her into the woods huh?" I said gently "Despite Katies bitch mode, she's not up for watching torture...you have ten minutes, then someone has to take our little Fitch back to the camp and her sister. Cook and I have the rest of our problem to deal with...

He nodded, and heaved the bruised and wounded Maria to her feet. She started to say something desperate to me as he pushed her into the woods, but I turned my head away. Not my problem any more. My little Fitch sister was safe, and I could go back with a clear conscience now.

We stood and talked for a bit while Jake was away...Katie had calmed down, and I even got a half arsed apology for her abuse, but my mind wasn't paying attention. I only heard one long, high pitched scream, followed by deep sobbing and a long agonised moan...it wasn't nice to listen to...Someone was being hurt...very badly.

When Jake got back, wiping his bloody hands on his shirt, neither Cook or I asked him what he'd done, but I'm guessing Maria would still be alive in the morning...barely. He'd said slow...and I think he meant it.

Jake took Katie back on one of the bikes and Cook and I yomped over to the distant Funchal camp. I won't go into details...I don't like murder, despite what it might sound like. Lets just say a nice pile of C4, strategically placed, a dozen fragmentation grenades and a hundred rounds from semi automatics makes a hell of an alarm clock. The industrial compound where the opposition had lived was now a burning, smoking pile of shattered debris by the time we'd walked away. I don't know how many people were still there. After all, we had taken out at least 8 of them tonight already...but I don't think the survivors, if there were any, would be any threat to us again. Not in this fucking lifetime.

We got back to camp just before lunchtime. It was a sobering sight. There were two small forms under white sheets on a trestle in the yard and a little crowd of people standing around them. A tearful Katie was being cuddled by Emily...Anna had her arms round a bloodied and bruised Effy, who had at least regained consciousness, and Jake stood alone, looking down at the small covered bodies with a look on his face which told me healing would be a long slow process for him in particular.

I stole a look at Cook and raised an eyebrow. Fuck, this was going to be hard...

 **And thats your lot for this weekend. I spoil you! Well, actually this was supposed to be the end of the last chapter, but I felt it needed a break, so...here you are!**

 **Review? Thank you very much!**


	33. Chapter 33

Katie

For the first few days after my attempted abduction by the, now deceased, manic Maria...we settled on getting Eff back to health. She'd taken a hell of a knock to her head from that rifle butt trying to stop them grabbing me. The side of her face resembled an aubergine, all purple and swollen. I wondered for the tenth time how much punishment a small, thin body like hers could take. The beating she got from those two fucked up rapists on Tresco was bad enough. I still don't think she's dealt with that mentally, but with Eff, its hard to know. On the surface its all enigmatic and mysterious, but underneath, I've seen the frightened child who lives in there. I might come across as a hard hearted, shallow bitch...? OK ..I _am_ a hard hearted shallow bitch a lot of the time...I accept that...But when we're on our own, laying in bed after frankly having the best sex I've ever had..? And that's _not_ something I thought I would ever hear myself say about another woman... I've seen her vulnerable side. She's a lot softer than she makes out, a lot more caring.

And she loves me so fucking much, its almost painful to watch. She hides it from the others mostly, although Emily and to some extent her butch sidekick Campbell spot it... But I see the sideways looks she gives me during the day. The little touches and sweet comments she makes about me. I've never had _love_ before...not like this anyway. I thought I was in love with that wanker Fausto...but forced anal sex and hourly fellatio aren't exactly forms of endearment, are they? Its not like he had to force me...? I've been bending the knee to guys since I was 14...he only had to ask...

But Effy is a tiger in the sack, and she takes care of ALL my needs now, let me remind you. Whoever invented the king sized double dildo has my everlasting thanks. I mean, he's as dead as Dillinger now, like the rest of the civilized world, but his invention has been a godsend to yours truly. The missing piece of the jigsaw, if you like. Like I used to say to Ems when she went on about muff being the new cock, I need _penetration_ on occasion. What can I say, I'm an old fashioned girl. No one, and I mean _no one_ can use their tongue and fingers like my sweet Stonem, but once in a while, I need a good hard pounding...its in my nature?

So Mr double-ender serves that purpose nicely. She's got a lot of power in those skinny hips, so the stamina isn't a problem. She can go all night...and has...if I need it. But I think maybe Cook and whatsherface moved rooms recently because I _might_ have been getting a bit...vocal...in my encouragement. Whats a girl to do?...Eff's insanely good at it...and if I scream in her ear when I'm getting close, it sets her off too..every ones a winner, yeah? Just no mopping up afterwards!

Anyway, enough about my sex life.. which is taking a bit of a back seat anyway, while Eff heals, the rest of the camp is a bit subdued as well.

Poor Jake is in bits. We buried his sister and her sweet little boyfriend up on the hillside overlooking the lake. It was a peaceful, beautiful spot to be spending eternity, but they were just fucking kids...first love, first everything? That bitch Maria took a lot more from us than just their lives though? She seemed to have taken a piece of our souls.

I did try to find out from Cook what happened to Maria out in the woods that night. He just stared at me and said "Don't ask...and _definitely_ don't ask Jake"

Well, of course I didn't...its not as if I'm insensitive, is it? In the end I asked Campbell, and after giving me one of those thousand yard stares she thinks passes for moody and interesting, she just said..."Think disemboweling Katie...and that would be just a start.. I think he wanted her to last a few hours, just to think about what she'd done...you know?"

OK, so my stomach churned at that mental image. Its a bit like when the lads at school used to go round showing Afghan decapitations on their mobile phones. You look the first time.. Then you spend a _month_ trying to get it the fuck out of your head. Cured my curiosity a treat.

So.. This is where we are at the moment. Effy's slowly getting back to what passes for normality in this fucked up world, Naomi and Emily are solid again, sickeningly so, if you ask my opinion...which they never do of course. Jake is walking about with a permanent scowl on his face. Cook and this new bint Tina or Pina?.. _Nita_ , thats it...whatever...seem OK, and then there's me. Katie Fitch...or the Fitch Bitch as I was known at school...just not to my face...ever.

I'm happy enough. Once Eff is fully recovered, I can stop sneaking out at midnight to help myself out by the lake... I never was much for al fresco sex back in the day...I mean who the fuck WAS Al Fresco anyway? But although we've been told a hundred times by Cook and Co that we can't take any chances... a girls got to get her pleasure where she can, right? And I can't exactly lay beside her while she's asleep and frig myself unconscious, now can I? Well, I _could_...but it'd be rubbing salt in the wounds, while she's recovering. So I sneak out and do my little thing alone...its quite nice...in a desperate whore kinda way...I never was one for exhibitionism back then...but I can see the appeal. The chance of being caught does add...something to the experience.

Any fucking way...enough about my masturbatory habits...Eff will be back to full function soon, and I can give my right hand a rest.

But something is brewing in the camp... and its not coffee. Campbell, Cook and Emily keep having pow wows in corners, and its obvious something's up. So when we got called to a meeting tonight, I knew it was something big.

"Right...ladies and gents" Cook shouted in his best class president style. " We need a group meeting...so this is it. Everyone gets a chance to speak, everyone gets the chance to vote...so feel free to wave if you've got something to add"

Fuck me.. He sounds like that pudgy wanker Cameron at election time. The only good thing to come out of the big bang was that him and his greasy, lying cabinet are now sub atomic particles...doing tiny things in the troposphere with equally tiny cash stuffed plain brown envelopes. Cunts..

"So..." Cook went on, when everyone shut the fuck up " We've lost two of our precious friends to hostiles..."

"Dead hostiles" Jake muttered darkly, and all eyes turned to him. He hasn't been the same since it happened, and i know Emily and Cook in particular are worried about him.

"Yeah...right... _dead_ fucking hostiles" Cook said quietly...looking at Campbell and raising one eyebrow.

"Anyway, boys and girls" he continued " We need to make some decisions"

Campbell stood up next to him, and opened up one of those blue A4 hardback notebooks we used to use in college. Jesus, I thought...they've prepared lecture notes...if I get asked to do coursework on this fucker...they're out of luck.

"OK..." Campbell says, taking the time, as usual, to wink at my fucking sister. Can't keep it in her pants, that one. The things I've walked in on her doing to Emily would make your nose bleed. If I was still a raging heterosexual, it would have done permanent damage to my eyesight. And I know what you're gonna say...Campbell _did_ catch me giving Effy her oral test a week or so ago...but that was different? I was making up for being a cunt to her...by...err making up to her cunt, right. And Campbell walked in just as Effys countdown reached critical. The burners were ignited, and lift off was imminent. If I'd have stopped then, my tongue would have been snapped off inside and I would never have heard the last of it from La Stonem. So I carried on...well you do, don't you? Only good manners. Never been a spitter...just seems polite to finish the job.

Uh, oh...Campbell had stopped talking, and I got distracted by pleasant memories... I wondered what the fuck she'd just said. Luckily, no one else had noticed my little trip down memory lane...I think.

"So...we have a straight choice" she said, closing the book. "Stay here...with the bad memories and possibility of further attacks from other groups...or take another big leap of faith and accept what Nita's cousin has told us is true"

Wait a minute... What did I miss? I didn't catch the bit about Cooks latest shag and her cousin. But I wasn't about to put my hand up and ask. What was it that old guy said once..."Better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool...than open it, and confirm the fact" Or some such profound bullshit.

Anyway, Anna saved me the trouble. Obviously, her English wasn't the best...so she got Cook to go over it again. I raised my eyebrow at Effy as if to say "Fucking foreigners, always need things explaining twice" but she wasn't fooled for a second. She leaned into me and chuckled in my ear.

"Tell me you're not gonna lie and say you heard that the first time?"

She breathed in my ear when she said it, and smirked as a shudder went through my body.

"Stop it!" I hissed, hopefully quietly " You know what that does to me...bitch"

"Yep" she said cheekily... 'And after we get out of here tonight... I think its time for Mr Long and Bendy to come out to play again"

If I shuddered before, now a fucking hurricane blew through me...complete with massively increased precipitation, if you know what I mean. Jesus...the things she can do with an inanimate object are probably illegal in at least 25 States of America.

"We can't have you sneaking out again tonight Katie..." She breathed... "Too much masturbation is bad for you...you'll need glasses...and opticians are a bit thin on the ground"

I shot her an angry look. Of _course_ she knew..., but she just grinned and linked her fingers with mine, teasing my hand with sly strokes. My underwear got even tighter. Bitch.

"So..." Campbell said again " a straight vote then. We stay, and fight our corner here. Or we go to the Azores... link up with Nita's people and start again. What's it to be?"

I stole a crafty look at my sister. For once, the ' _take me to bed and fuck_ _me senseless_ ' look she normally wore permanently when Naomi was in the same hemisphere, was absent. I saw my chance, when she looked back at me with uncertainty in her eyes.

"I think we need 5 minutes Cook" I said, raising my hand like a fucking 5th former on a history test "I want to talk to my sister before I vote"

Ignoring the knowing smirk on my girlfriends face, I got up and met Emily in the middle of the room. Everyone else had split into little groups, talking animatedly, so I got the chance to ask Ems what the fuck the past quarter of an hour had been about. Jesus Christ.. I'm gonna have to sit with someone else next time we have a meeting...someone who won't ruin a perfectly good pair of M&S knickers by breathing in my ear and promising me rough sex with a large rubber cock.

" _Fuck_ , Katie" Emily said, when the true extent of my ignorance became obvious, "Did you hear ANY of what Naomi and Cook were saying, or did you spend the whole meeting feeling up Effy?"

"Err...pot, kettle?" I said acidly " Considering who I am currently talking to, its a bit like discussing shyness with Miley Cyrus?"

"OK...bitch" she grinned..."Touche and all that. But we have to decide tonight what we're gonna do. Naomi says that the Goose is probably only going to be up for one more long flight before she needs a major service. And we're a bit short on trained aircraft mechanics at the moment. If we go to the Azores, where Nita says she has cousins who worked for the Americans over there, we might be OK. She spoke to them two weeks ago, before her CB radio packed up. They have a camp there, like ours, but its in an isolated area on one of the smaller islands. There are 20 of them, half men, half women. They've fortified the camp and they have weapons and stores. But if we go...then that's goodbye to everything we've built here. We leave Harry and Sergio behind. What do _YOU_ think we should do?"

Well, that was a fucking show stopper. Another 600 mile journey in that military plane, with the possibility of crashing into the shark infested sea...or stay here and risk being overrun by angry natives again. Cook and Jake had made a concerted attempt to scour the island since the raid and the kids funeral. We now knew there were at least two more groups of survivors. Both larger than ours, and both predominately male. That spelled trouble eventually, we all knew that. Men without women either end up killing each other in frustration, or raiding other survivor groups for wiling or unwilling bed mates. And we were the prize everyone would want, once they knew we existed.

We'd been lucky...if only losing two people could be considered as lucky, so far. When you think about it, there were two sets of attractive young lesbians, and two other shaggable females in our group. Heavily loaded the double X chromosome way, compared to the other two groups. Sooner or later, one of them would stumble on us, and then we'd have to deal with it. Cook was right, we had no more time to sit around and pretend the world would ignore us for ever.

"Seems like a no brainer Ems" I said , more firmly than I felt. "Stay here and end up as shag fodder for some sweaty Portuguese losers, or take a chance and fuck of to the Azores...You never know, there might be some fit Yank airmen there"

The look Emily gave me then would have turned a lesser person to stone.

"OK, OK..." I said, raising my hands in defence against her death stare "Fucking sense of humour bypass, or what. You've been spending too much time doing oral gynaecology revision with Campbell...its fucked with your amusement nerve endings"

I got another black look, but luckily for me she let it drop, because just then Effy came over to join us. I might be able to joke with Ems about anonymous cock, but I had a feeling my lovely little shag partner wouldn't be so forgiving. In any case.. I _do_ love her...I just like to test out my independence gene occasionally.

"So whats the verdict, Fitch sisters?" she said "Do we stay...or do we go?"

"That's two votes for go" I said, looking at Ems for agreement. She nodded. No surprise there. I'm guessing that in between marathon muff diving sessions, her and GI Julia had thrashed out an agreement already on the way to go for it. I might not be Campbell's greatest fan...but she always had Emsy's best interests at heart. I'm not so sure about mine...but we have an uneasy truce going at the moment. Even though her lezzer digs at me were fewer, they still stung occasionally...and I'm not completely convinced that her frequent lewd suggestions about twin things aren't serious . Effy doesn't help, slyly letting on that her and Campbell have had their share of threesomes in the past. I'm not averse to the odd one myself, but my imagination stops dead when my sister is concerned. Not even in a post apocalyptic world am I sharing my body with her...or visa versa. Yuck.

So we had a vote. And surprise, surprise, the only dissenting vote was from Jake. I knew he was still grieving over his sister, so I don't blame him. But he accepted the vote of the majority. He still needed us...and we certainly needed him.

Two days later, stores loaded, fueled up, and with a full complement of people, we boarded the Goose. It felt weird, getting back on board after all this time. I remembered the night Emily sang for us all. That Adele song that makes everyone cry. Apart from me. I spent too many nights with one drunk male or other trying to shag me on the dance floor after a nights drinking and too many lines of MDMA while she wailed in the background to have too many touching memories of that song. But it was sweet, hearing my sister sing and play. She'd always been musical. From when we were little, and Grandpa Neil had brought us matching pink trumpets. Of course, Emily never tires of trotting out the line about my preference for playing the pink trombone as an adult anyway...but that's another story.

As Naomi and Cook sat up front and did their over long instrument checks, I stared at the people around me. Friends...yes, mostly. Lovers... Well one of them at least, and family, at least the only family I was ever likely to see again. Ems sat opposite me, her eyes, as always looking forward to where the love of her life was doing her jet fighter pilot bit. I suppose she was a bit sexy, in a butch kind of way. But I'll never reveal _that_ thought, even with thumbscrews.

Another interminable wait, with the engines roaring outside, and then we started to move. We kept the door open on one side and just clipped ourselves onto the safety rail on the roof with the thick wire retainers. Just in case anyone took a unexpected dive for the door. As we picked up momentum, I felt the bumps ease as the speed increased. Soon we were barely touching the water and the engine note changed as we left the island we had called home behind. Naomi pulled the plane up to about 500 feet, and then did a very slow pass over the lake and the hillside where Harry and Sergio were buried. We took turns to stand at the door and say goodbye. In the end, she did another pass as Jake stood on his own, head bowed, crying quietly. I may be a heartless, unemotional bitch, but even I had a tear in my eye. With one last wing wiggle, the Goose climbed away from the warm, green landscape and headed towards the Azores...and whatever things the future had in store for our little band.


	34. Chapter 34

**Last chapter then. The gang are on Flores, the remote island in mid Atlantic, which they escaped to after leaving Madeira, with its sad memories. Meeting up with Maria's relatives and the remnants of the US military, they have established themselves as part of a bigger group, well equipped to defend itself and large enough to offer a potential gene pool to begin the world again. Thanks for reading this repost!**

18 months later...

"Babe?" I yelled out of the kitchen window "Can you get some Coleman Oil for the storm lamps?"

"No problem sexy" Naomi shouted back. ." and stop perving on my arse, Miss Fitch"

"Give me a hundred years, and I'll see what I can do" I called back.

She flashed me a cheeky grin, and shook the area in question a couple of times, just to give me a warm feeling below... She always knew what buttons to press with me...Bitch.

We've been in this timber cabin a year now, built by hand, the first summer we were here. We spent the first couple of months sharing a makeshift hut with Katie and Effy, but inevitably, it didn't work out. Quite apart from the fact that Katie and I had had quite enough twin time, growing up in London and Bristol together, both our partners were a bit...err vocal... in their appreciation of the various Fitch talents we had at our disposal. And sneaking out for an all fresco shag is fine when you're a teenager...or on the very odd occasion you fancied a bit of fresh air fun. But every night? Nope. We _had_ to build our own places.

Wayne and Carlos, the two US guys we met when we arrived, together with Cook and Jake, turned out to be quite the budding property developers. With the the help of a few of the others, they organized a bit of a building frenzy. Within a month, they had expanded the perimeter by 500 metres all round, dug another deep defensive trench, complete with diverted water, and built a higher 16 feet wooden stockade out of felled trees. Inside that, they had used more cleared timber to build another three substantial cabins. A double for Naomi and me, another for Katie and Effy, and a bigger, communal one for Cook, Nita and a couple of the younger Portuguese girls. Jake and Anna, together with her other three sisters who were already living here, occupied one of the original buildings. The others found places with the first settlers on Flores.

After this activity, and the agreement to let Cook, Wayne, Carlos and Naomi form a sort of ' _Survivors Committee_ ', life here settled down pretty quickly. The island is fertile, remote from danger and exploitable for natural resources. We had a fresh water spring and a wooden latrine built over a small stream within our stockade border. Outside this, the guys had fenced off about 20 acres, where we had sheep, pigs, goats and chickens free ranging. Jake even built a big coop for the chooks, we even ended up having to restrict the number of eggs the younger kids were eating, because they were getting egg bound! A trip to a village the other side of Flores, to source some castor oil, soon put paid to the excess egg eating...it still tastes like rancid puke, apparently.

Anyway, food was plentiful, what with the stock animals, the abundance of fresh fruit, and the big vegetable patch Effy and I started in that first summer. It seemed like everything you put into the ground grew overnight in the balmy sub tropical climate. Life was good.

Naomi and I settled down into domestic bliss easily too. She had already told me...in a tearful confession one night, as we sat out on the porch, watching summer meteor showers in the black sky... that she was tired of soldiering, tired of killing. She'd been in uniform for over 4 years, even before the world decided to blow itself to smithereens, and she'd started having nightmares about all the people she'd offed during her service. There had been a lot, when we talked it through...and I enlisted Cook's help, to try to get her through it. I think she'd earned a rest from her battlefield trauma.

The first step was to talk it through, and I spent a couple of painful, tearful evenings, just letting her get it all out. The small supply of alcohol we kept in the compound got a real battering too, but eventually, with Effy's insight into mental issues...we got over it. One of the most important things Wayne came up with, to try to change the way we thought about things, was to largely demilitarize the camp. OK, we still needed weapons and defences. But we made them low key. The watch towers were only manned at night, because when the big wood gates were closed, it was hard to see how anyone, or anything could scale the 16 foot spiked top barrier. Weapons were restricted to side arms, and only then if we went more than a mile away from the safety of the stockade. The ex army guys stopped wearing uniform and camo gear. Tracksuit bottoms, or shorts and tee's were day to day wear. Gradually, we all got used to being civilians again. It felt good.

It wasn't _all_ sweetness and light, of course. There were rows, breakups and petty disputes. Cook split with Nita after she got too friendly with one of the other US army privates, but he soon had the oldest Portuguese sister, Marietta, in his sights. Within weeks, she was in his cabin most nights. Jake got close to the 17 year old second sister Edita, and she helped him fill the Harry shaped hole in his life. There were various hook ups and break ups between the younger teenagers, and Cook and Wayne had to have a serious chat about contraception with one of the teenage sailors from the next island, who was simultaneously banging two of the other local girls...not that either of them were complaining much, but we didn't need any unplanned pregnancies just yet...

But they were small bumps in the road. We got through the first 'winter' unscathed. We had stockpiled wood for the stoves, fuel for the three generators we now had (one of those a big, fuck off Genny from a traveling circus, which had been on the island the day the world self combusted. They had apparently split when one of the few remaining passing US aircraft carriers had docked here to evacuate the Azores. Trouble was, Wayne said, the carrier got torpedoed later by a Russian nuclear attack sub about 150 miles away. The sub got hit with a large depth charge shortly before the carrier sunk, so both of them were currently sitting a mile down on the sea bed. Another 3000 lives to add to the grim reapers toll. We've estimated that of a world population of 7 billion, less than a few million are alive today. And those left were spread out across hundreds of thousands of square miles of inhabitable land.

Wayne was a mine of information in the first few weeks. The war had gone on for about a month in all. Northern Europe, North America, Russia, China and Japan were irradiated wastelands. The Chinese had tried to take over everything they could in the immediate aftermath, with their offshore assets, but a single warhead, detonated over the communist party secret bunker finished them and their command and control system. It wasn't a nuke, but a virulent, laboratory made, genetic virus, which had 100% mortality written into its nasty effectiveness.

Two months after we had avoided the Chinese on Tresco, most of their people were dead or dying. Apparently, some bio genius in Kentucky had designed a virus which only attacked people with a DNA make up of Oriental people. Result, 1.2 billion deaths. Brilliant. All we needed was an even more efficient way of bumping people off...

So the only survivors today, apart from little bands of vagabonds like ours, in mid Atlantic, were south of the Equator. Australia was still OK apparently and the only thing resembling a world power nowadays, but the Aussies, in typical non conformist mood, had decided they didn't want the job the US, Russia and China had abdicated...South Africa was also largely untouched. But island communities like ours had the best survival odds of all. Just dumb luck I guess, although we had Cook and Naomi to thank for the original idea.

So we stayed put. Dug ourselves in for the long term, and just hoped. After a year, we knew it was unlikely we were gonna get too many visitors. Fuel generation outside of our own reserves was pretty fucked...All the petro-chemical producing countries were devoid of people and machinery. To cut down on our own dependence, we went over to the far side of the island and captured 6 horses which had been left, now virtually gone wild. They had existed on the thousand acre grassland and natural streams in the area. Once we had managed to get them on the bridle and put saddles on them, I resurrected my memories from when Katie and I had lessons as 14 year old schoolgirls. Of course, Katie had been more about interested in the contents of the grooms trousers than his instructional skills, but even she, between hours no doubt sitting on his dick, had managed to get the basics right.

It was at least something I could do to contribute, and Naomi couldn't. I had great fun, watching her fall off frequently...not to mention the pleasurable duty of massaging soothing linement into her gorgeous naked arse when she got saddle sore. I'm pretty sure she complained about soreness that didn't exist sometimes, just to get my hands on her butt. Not that I minded...The massages never lasted long...my fingers were better employed in other, slicker places. I'm not sure deep relief oils are supposed to get in...there...but whatever.

Anyway, the upshot of all that was that horses replaced vans and trucks for the majority of our exploration. Flores is drop dead beautiful. Its name means flowers in English, and they weren't kidding when they named it. I've never seen so many beautiful blooms. Of course, now my newly romantic soldier girl spoils me with bunches of them almost daily. The little cabin is always alive with colour and scent. She even covered our bed with white petals one night...but they got a bit crushed...what with the hours of wild sex and all...

Oh yeah...the sex. Contrary to popular belief, the attraction isn't wearing off, even after nearly two years together. I still fancy her like mad. One look at her in a tight white singlet top and matching shorts when she comes in from the fields and my mouth goes bone dry. It might have something to do with the fact that she's stopped wearing a bra most days. Did I mention that I love Naomi's tits? I might have done... Full, round and firm...and bigger than mine...I could spend hours playing with them. OK...I _HAVE_ spent hours playing with them. If it wasn't for the fact that I love playing with another part of her anatomy even more, they might have to physically amputate my lips from her nipples. Which would be unfortunate, I think you'll agree.

In any case... I've turned into the Martini girl. Any place, Any time, Any where. I think Naomi got a little annoyed at my persistence just once, when she was doing the washing up the other morning. I blame her of course. Who does washing up naked apart from a stupidly short blue tee, with even tinier knickers on underneath? Whats a girl to do, when she comes into the room to find her sexy girlfriend leaning over the deep sink, reaching for the window to let the steam out?

I just had to grab her from behind...and...fondle her a bit. Trouble is, Naomi is _ridiculously_ easy to arouse. One hand up inside the tee, cupping my favourite boob...or is it the other one, I forget...The other slipping between her legs from behind to find out just how flimsy those knickers were? Very, it turned out. One sharp tug, and I just had a scrap of pink material in my hand. A bit of careful, but smooth probing with my finger...and Naomi stopped complaining and started rotating that sexy little bottom in time with my circling digit. A few whispered words of filth in her ear, accompanied by hard breathing, and she was toast.

" _Fuck_...Ems...your timing is shit... But Oh Jesus babes...right there, no deeper...oh **fuck** "

And more stuff like that for the next few minutes. I was just getting to the ' _kick the ankles apart and move the other hand_ _round_ _to the_ _clit_ ' move, when she arched back, grinding that tight little bum into my lap. I bit her earlobe and swore colourfully into her ear...Ever wished you had three hands? I needed two for her...but one for me would have been nice...

Oh well...I thought... I know she's about 10 seconds away from getting off...I can wait.

Just then, Effy's amused face pops up in the open window and regards the red faced Naomi seriously, before breaking out into an entirely inappropriate smug grin.

"Naomi babes...?" she drawled wryly "If you want to diddle yourself whilst watching me out of the window...just ask. I'm sure Katie won't mind...so long as there's no...err... inappropriate touching?"

She smirked some more, and I suppose I really should have stopped what I was doing...but the devil in me, and the memory of Naomi telling me about that time she walked in on Effy and Katie going at it in the chicken coop back in Madeira, and they just carried on...forced my hand...as it were. I gripped Naomi's body, as she tried to escape and resumed my...thrusting...quite vigorously.

A few seconds later, with my mouth on her neck, she came explosively. Her head rolled back and she moaned in release. I held onto her, as Effy walked away, that smirk still evident on her face. When Naomi had recovered, she spun round and faced me..face angry and flushed...

" _Jesus_ Emily" she growled huskily..."even for you...that was..."

"Amazing...sexy...liberating?" I smiled, tongue very firmly in cheek.

She tried to keep her stern face on, but failed miserably. She tried one last time.

"You've just made me fucking... _come_...in front of my...no... _our_ best friend?"

"Nothing she's not seen before "I said, arching my eyebrow. I knew that would hit home.

"Not for fucking _years_ " Naomi muttered miserably..." And anyway, thats not the point?"

"I'll make it up to you babe...just name your punishment?" I grinned, daring her as always.

She stared at me, face blank, for a second or two...then an evil grin spread over her pretty face.

"Anything?" She said artlessly

"Name it" I said confidently...thinking about the strap on in the cupboard next door.

She grinned even wider.

"OK...I'll nip over to Effy's and set it up"

"Wh...what?" I stuttered..."what the fuck's it got to do with her?"

This time it was Naomi's eyebrow that danced in amusement.

"Well...she'll need to be OK with us borrowing Katie?" she smirked "We're both well up for the twin thing...but I don't suppose she'll mind if I go first?"

My expression must have been a picture, and she had to reach out and grab me as I went to storm out.

"Oh no...little Fitch" she laughed..." _Now_ who can't take a joke?"

It took an extended bear hug, and a whole lot of tickling before I stopped scowling and let her drag me off to bed. Needless to say, Katie _didn't_ join us.

So I think I can safely say the novelty still hasn't worn off our sex life, even with Naomi and Effy constantly going on about them shagging me and Katie at the same time. Teasing apart, I think we've christened every flat surface within 500 metres of the compound. But I digress, sex is something we all seem to be freer with in this brave new world. The old conventions and social graces are suspended for the duration. And who knows how long that duration will be? Couples are more open and less inhibited about showing affection with each other, whether they're gay or straight. I guess a visitor from before the apocalypse might be shocked at the amount of rampant girl/boy, girl/girl and boy/boy shagging going on, day and night, but it seems to me, with the violence which used to be considered acceptable in the 'old world' a new healthy obsession with sex isn't so bad...is it? We'd seen so much death, sex seemed to be the perfect antidote.

So...we carried on our increasingly stable and rural life. Jake and his girl looked after the stock animals, just like his much missed little sister used to. Cook and Wayne take care of the defences and any long distance expeditions. Naomi and I look after the crops and the supplies. Effy and the nurse take on the medical and fuel duties. The others share the other tasks, like maintenance, vehicle upkeep and repairs.

All in all, we get by comfortably now. We had one tragedy when Katie and one of the lads went out in a small sailing dinghy to do some fishing. The waters around here are full of fish, and with Katies dabbling with the rod and line on Tresco, she reckoned she was the closest thing to a fishing 'expert' we had. No one minded that. I saw the look on Effys face when Katie suggested it, and I think she was thinking of the Fausto situation, but after Katie and her had a little heart to heart, I think she was reassured that Katie's new inclinations were to muff, not dick. To be fair, Katie hadn't even glanced at the new guys since she arrived. She only had eyes for Effy. We got a few barbed comments from the two spare GI's about 'all the best looking chicks being fucking dykes" but a word from Cook, Wayne and Naomi set them right. If the word of their ranking NCO wasn't enough, two very determined special forces grunts made their point forcibly. I think the message was taken in.

No, the problem with Katie going off to do her Captain Ahab bit was more to do with stupidity. Not hers this time. The teenage sailor boy who guided the boat for her fishing expedition decided he was bored and had a little swim, while she was casting out, half a mile offshore.

Trouble was, humans aren't the only predators in these waters. Within ten minutes of him diving in, Katie spotted a huge dorsal fin about 20 feet from him. Despite her shouts, and desperate paddling from the boy...Abilio...surveys show that humans can't out swim sharks. Especially 15 foot sharks. I didn't even know they got that big in these waters. Carlos said it was probably an Oceanic White Tip, well known for attacks like this, but for poor Abilio, it was all a bit academic.

I never really knew the kid. He was 16, I think, and just another brown eyed, bright smiled Portuguese islander to most of us. Nice enough, but unremarkable. But his violent death was the third one inside a year...and as we all remembered the shock of losing Harry and Sergio, it hit hard.

Katie was lucky too that day, lucky that she had picked up the basics of steering a boat. Lucky too that it had a small outboard as well as a sail...and _very_ lucky the tide was on its way in. She beached the boat on a sand bar which stretched out into the shallow bay, and ran for help. It was no use, of course. Even though she had managed to get him back on board... He was minus a leg and a large chunk of his side. His face was white as parchment when Effy and the other Portuguese medic examined him. The poor soul was long gone.

It was a sombre little party who buried him on the hillside overlooking our settlement. It was way too soon after we'd done the same service for our own brave little warriors, Harry and Sergio. Jake stayed away, and I don't blame him for that. We were all pretty sick of death.

But that was a few months ago. We all have a strict rule to observe now. Take no chances, is our motto, and we stick to it.

So tonight was party night. We didn't need an excuse, but after the recent funeral and all, we decided collectively that we needed to celebrate just being alive for once. Effy and Katie put up a load of Chinese style coloured lanterns we had looted from a chandlers. The candles came from another expedition. But as we now had tallow and the way of making them, we decided to waste a few. We rigged up the smaller genny in the wood shed, and powered the old music centre we had found in Santa Cruz last month. Me and Naoms were on cookhouse duty, and we had 6 freshly killed chickens and a whole yearling pig to cook. I was never one for eating meat much back in the day, but now we were pretty much all eaters of anything edible. The animals were our source of food, along with the rice, vegetables and fruit that Flores offered. So we had a feast.

When we finally walked out to the big tables that Wayne and Carlos had set out, we got a round of applause. The pig was turning on the spit, and we laid out the six chickens, three to a table. There was freshly baked local bread, cheese from the goats, olives, peppers, sweet potatoes, lettuce and a dozen other smaller dishes.

Two hours later, everyone was stuffed, and the wine was flowing freely. Cook (of course) had also found two big bottles of Grappa, which us apparently an Italian spirit. It was so lethal, I was reminded of that fucking potato spirit Katie and I necked before the Love Ball, back in our student days. Tasted like petrol, but very, very effective at getting you off your face. I had a feeling we were all gonna have sore heads in the morning. None of us were used to getting shit faced anymore.

" _Speech_ " someone (probably Cook ) shouted out, and we all looked hazily at each other. "Naomi...get your arse up there" Cook bellowed, and my lover reluctantly disentangled herself from my arms to do as he asked.

"I'll fucking kill you for this Cook" she hissed as she passed, but he just grinned and hiccuped extravagantly, before goosing the girl on his lap, who smiled indulgently.

When she got onto the makeshift stage Wayne had erected for the music centre, she looked around us slowly before asking for quiet.

"Well..." she began "Apart from the fact that I have a sharpened stake to insert into Cooks flabby arse for getting me up here at all..."

The laughter was loud and supportive. Cook just grinned again and took another swig of Grappa.

"...I suppose the occasion does warrant a speech, even though I fucking _hate_ giving them"

More whistles and hoots from all round.

"OK...so we did it. We survived " she said, face suddenly serious. "The world has gone to shit, but between us, we have managed to survive just about anything it threw at us. First of all, I want to thank Wayne and his guys for letting us stay here"

The Yanks smiled up at Naoms and raised their glasses.

"And I want to thank the others who were here on the island first, for being so generous with everything, as well as Nita and Maria who have been great new friends to us...oh and Mauricio, for being our favourite nephew"

This time, the Portuguese all waved glasses and whooped.

"But now I want to thank my old friends from back in England too. Those who have been with me from the start. Can you stand up when I call your name, please?"

There were a few good natured groans, but all the faces were still smiling.

"Jake...for being a fucking rock...and without whom, we would still be in Cornwall, pushing up daisies...oh, and for saving my life in France"

Jake stood and smiled briefly before sitting down again.

"Cook...for being an all round star...as well as the biggest **arse** I have ever met"

Cook cheered and staggered to his feet, spilling Grappa over his girlfriend.

"Katie...for just being Katie...and for making my best friend happier than she's ever been"

Katie giggled and stood up, still with her hand on Effys shoulder.

"Effy..who apart from being my best friend, is an all round wonderful person. And the second best shag in the world"

Effy laughed out loud and raised her glass to Naomi and me...I was guessing that I was the best shag then?

"And finally" Naomi turned to me, her face glowing with alcohol and emotion "To my wonderful and beautiful Emily. The love of my life...the person I could never live without...and **definitely** the best shag in the world!"

This time the whole camp roared with laughter and approval. The applause went on for minutes as Naomi blushed and mouthed "Sorry" to me, with a sly smile. I would be making her pay for that, but I didn't think she would mind the punishment. As she made her way back to my table, I wanted to do something for her, so I stood and interrupted the raucous cheering, just before she got to me.

"And I think we've forgotten someone?" I shouted. The crowd quietened.

I raised my half full glass and asked everyone to join me.

"And this is a toast to the person I love more in the world than anything or anybody. She's saved me...in every way a woman can be saved. From bandits, from starvation...from death...and even from a fucking lion once!"

The others rose up, cheering again, and I waited a second for them to quieten down.

"But most of all, for just being Naomi. For being a beautiful person, our protector, our friend...and I have to disagree with her on this one thing...the _fucking_ best shag...in the world!"

This time the cheering went on for ages. When she got to me, she enveloped me in a hug which rivaled even my Dad's old Fitch hugs.

I managed to free myself eventually, and raised my glass again.

"No more fucking speeches" Cook slurred..."Valuable drinking time, yeah?"

"In a sec Cook" I said, staying upright and waiting for people to quieten down.

"The last toast is for everyone who _didn't_ make it. For Harry, For Sergio, for Jo, for Abilio...and for all our families and friends left behind... To _us_ then...and the ones who fell on the way"

This time the toast was solemn. But short. Because life is you see. We have to get on with living it now. Me and Naomi, Effy and Katie, Cook, Jake and everyone else. Its been a long and hard road, but now we're finally home. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. But whatever it is, we'll face it together.

 **Fin...**


End file.
